(Margate) The artwork will have been even more ephemeral than Valentine’s Day: Banksy on Tuesday unveiled a mural on the theme of domestic violence in the south-east of England, quickly damaged by zealous cleaning agents.
In this mural by the mysterious street artist in the seaside resort of Margate, a housewife with a 1950s or 1960s look can be seen disfigured by a black eye and a broken tooth, while the legs of a man protrude from an old, very real freezer, leaning against the wall.
On the ground around them are scattered objects, such as an old frying pan, a broken chair or an old bottle.
The work, titled “Valentine’s day mascara”, was claimed by the artist on his Instagram account on February 14, a day considered in many countries as the feast of lovers.
Amanda Barden finds the work “fantastic”. “It’s a real subject that people can talk about domestic violence. The reference to Valentine’s Day also concerns people, it will open the dialogue, ”she believes.
But at midday, men posing as agents working for Thanet District Council, which administers the town, removed the old freezer and other items, making it difficult to understand the artwork’s message about the domestic violence.
Contacted by AFP, the district council could not be reached immediately.
The images showing the removal of these objects aroused indignant reactions on social networks, while on the spot, passers-by expressed their astonishment and incomprehension.
PHOTO WILLIAM EDWARDS, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
At midday, men posing as agents working for Thanet District Council, which administers the town, removed the old freezer and other items, making the artwork’s message about the violence difficult to understand conjugal.
“People were like, ‘Stop, stop, you know that’s a Banksy right? “, says Laura Holden, a resident of Margate who attended the scene. She wonders if this intervention of the municipal services was premeditated: “perhaps Banksy had planned everything from the start”.
Asked by AFP just before the removal of the objects, the mayor of Margate, Heather Keen, affirmed that the city would “find how to protect (the work) and preserve it, because we are very proud to have it here” .
” Fantastic ”
Three years ago, the mysterious artist from Bristol who works under a pseudonym had already painted a work for Valentine’s Day: a little girl firing a catapult at a bouquet of red flowers.
In 2018, a painting by Banksy entitled “The Girl with a Balloon” partially self-destructed during its auction, thanks to a crusher hidden in the frame, causing amazement around the world.
Banksy intended to denounce the “commodification” of art, through this performance. Resale under the new name of “Love is in the bin” (“Love is in the bin”), it was finally bought 18.6 million euros, a record for the artist.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Banksy has given his support to the Ukrainians. In January, he put up for sale 50 serigraphs intended to raise funds for the benefit of civilians.
And he had posted a video on his Instagram account in mid-November compiling his stencil-painted works in the country, including one representing an individual wearing a gas mask in Gostomel, thus confirming that he was the author.