Banksy painting sprayed over by envious graffiti artists

8:54am Friday 9th October 2009 in News Exclusive By Harry Miller

Banksy painting sprayed over by envious graffiti artists Banksy painting sprayed over by envious graffiti artists

The world’s most famous street artist’s contribution to make Sutton a more colourful place has been ruined by louts.

Despite a rousing show of support from Sutton residents, Banksy’s critique on IKEA in the Beddington Farm Road industrial estate on the border with Croydon has been ‘tagged’ over by vandals.

The satirical image features a punk standing next to a cardboard box marked IEAK apparently reading instructions on how to put together a graffiti slogan.

Envious vandals have sprayed red and white tags all over the piece of art and the question now is, what will be its fate?

One of the haphazard ‘tags’ reads, Choke, Real Graffiti another reads, NO BANKSY while others are just poorly sprayed names.

Sutton Council asked the public whether or not they considered Banksy’s latest piece art or vandalism before they took a decision to remove it or keep it.

Do you know who the tags belong to? Let us know at suttonguardian.co.uk or call the newsdesk on 020 8330 9554

Comments(22)

theavengers says...
9:24am Fri 9 Oct 09

It's all graffiti, one lot of scrawl isn't any more art than another. It wasn't commissioned for the public, it isn't an installment, it was put there by vandals, which includes the greatly media hyped Bansky.

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adrianshort says...
9:54am Fri 9 Oct 09

The modified work has much more poignancy and strength than the original. It has an anger and authenticity that the Banksy, for all its wit, lacked.

Rooted firmly in the Situationist philosophy, this is a multi-layered and evolving piece, a detournement of a detournement.

The taggers' assertion that this is the "real graffiti" acts as a searing critique of both contemporary artistic practice and contested notions of urban power. We are exhorted to see the street as a canvas for popular expression (even, yes, for those that are untrained and do not aspire to the dubious status of "artist") and confronted with the reality that space and image ultimately cannot be privatised. Weeds will always find a way up through the cracks in the concrete.

Something tells me that Banksy would have a sense of humour about this but I very much doubt that Sutton Council will.

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Angela M says...
11:01am Fri 9 Oct 09

No, this isn't "a multi-layered and evolving piece" - it's some jealous chavs spitefully scrawling over someone else's work because they feel inadequate.

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Lez says...
11:28am Fri 9 Oct 09

Well, here is the proof that graffiti is a pastime for idiots.

If its not your wall - its vandalism.

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adrianshort says...
11:28am Fri 9 Oct 09

I'm sure the taggers do feel angry. What place does our society give them in the production of the built environment and of the cultural works that our society values so highly?

The industrial revolution forced the artisan from his workshop and into the factory and deskilled the role of designer/maker into one where the worker was simply a cog in the machine, producing just one small part of a larger whole over which he had no control nor the satisfaction of completion. Chaplin nailed this in his film "Modern Times", where after working a shift in the factory performing the same mechanical movements on the production line he is seen unable to stop repeating the motion after leaving work. Thus is the proletarian literally mechanised.

Our post-industrial economy brings this process full circle, with today's proletarians forced to purchase cheap furniture and assemble it at home in a clear echo of our industrial past. It is through this displacement -- recontextualised -- that Banksy satirises IKEA. Then along come the taggers to question *his* privilege to separate himself from the practices of everyday life and ask "What about us?"

What indeed?

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Rainbowblue says...
12:26pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Paint over it - problem solved.

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adrianshort says...
12:43pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Paint over it? It's more important than ever that it should be left to evolve in its own way.

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Colin Miller says...
2:22pm Fri 9 Oct 09

"Paint over it? It's more important than ever that it should be left to evolve in its own way."

Why? It just looks a mess now. At least before it looked presentable and gave the local community something look at and talk about.

The way it is now, it is just an eye sore - a reminder that some idiots out there, don't have respect for anything.

Hardly "art" if you ask me.

Shame.... Real shame.

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Angela M says...
2:24pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I think Banksy should stencil on a picture of a hoodie in action with a can of spray-paint.

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Colin Miller says...
2:25pm Fri 9 Oct 09

And I guarantee, if these taggers had done this to a relatives grave, a local bus stop or a community hall, you'd be demanding that the council sort it out.

They were not questioning his priviledge, they were just being arrogant.

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adrianshort says...
2:30pm Fri 9 Oct 09

If you think the taggers are "arrogant" doesn't that demonstrate just how privileged Banksy is, Colin? How dare they deface this great man's work?

Nice idea, Angela, but I expect this one is too hot for him to handle now.



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Colin Miller says...
2:54pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I guess you are right - he is priviledged because his work is respected and provides an alternative form of social commentary, unlike that of the social outcasts that can't spell their name without using the language of txt speak.

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adrianshort says...
3:14pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Banksy is privileged because those with power want to accommodate and neutralise his social critique -- which is as much about context as it is about content -- rather than address it. That includes the vast majority of those that have supported the mural's preservation.

Where you see "social outcasts" I see people that are differently included and alternatively literate, making their own interstitial culture in the gaps that the mainstream ignores.

This layered work says far more about that mainstream than it does about Banksy or the taggers. It's a mirror. Don't be suprised if you don't like what you see.

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Angela M says...
3:14pm Fri 9 Oct 09

It's very depressing that some people consider Banksy's thought-provoking and beautifully executed images to be the same as some illegible scrawl by a yob. It's like comparing The Beatles to Milli Vanilli.

And to be honest, Banksy is not privileged - he has earned respect because of his talent. If the other graffiti 'artists' in the area had the same talent and foresight to create images like these, they would have been revered in the same way.

Also, art does not always require in-depth analysis. Don't waste your time theorising about what the artist was thinking - or hidden meanings. It's a satirical cartoon, a one-liner. Analysing art is like explaining a joke - it's condescending and unnecessary.

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Colin Miller says...
3:24pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I'm not surprised (in fact as someone who grew up in this borough, I expected it), I'm just disappointed.

You're entitled to your own opinions and I am entitled to mine, so lets just agree to disagree.

You can call it "layered art", I'll just call it a shameful mess. :-)

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Dannybananas says...
3:28pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I have to agree with the sentiments that graffiti is a redundance cliche, whoever the 'artist' is. What was fresh and exciting 30 years ago is now simply a stale pastiche of something with a largely forgotten origin.
And as for the industrial revolution taking artisans from the field, I would say it gave starving rural serfs their first independence from the land owners and also their first opportunities to break free from the shackles of poverty and class strictures.

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LiberalsOut says...
3:48pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Perhaps it was a real art lover ?

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adrianshort says...
3:53pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Angela,

It's not about directly comparing the tags with the Banksy mural. As I said earlier, it's the detournement that gives the resulting work its meaning and its power. But even if we were making that comparison, we still need a value theory to sort The Beatles from Milli Vanilli, and indeed, Mozart. How can we judge whether a work belongs in the canon or in the bin? Gut instinct? "Common sense"?

If Banksy isn't privileged then how do you explain the council bending over backwards to treat his work differently to any other graffiti? That's exactly what privilege is -- differential treatment. You might think his privilege is justified but it's undeniably there. You say Banksy's work is "thought-provoking" and later a "one-liner" that doesn't require explanation. However you resolve that contradiction I'm sure we can all agree that without his intervention we wouldn't be thinking about these issues or having this debate at all.

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Libby Ralsuck says...
3:58pm Fri 9 Oct 09

Regardless of your views on whether Banksy is art or not, the current tagging is a mess and should be painted over. As for adriansmith defending it as art, I had wondered where Victor Lewis Smith had been hiding.

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Juju Bebe says...
7:47pm Fri 9 Oct 09

I .. LOVE .. BANKSY!!! x

I am so angry that someone has done this to a 'Banksy' piece. If the so called 'real' graffitti artist new about art he would have had some respect and not have done this.
I spotted the Banksy piece a few days ago and rushed there to have a look, and loved it! i felt so glad that Banksy had blessed out town with such a great piece of art. Its so sad that its been ruined but i am glad i saw it in its full glory!! :) x


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Alex_Bradford says...
12:48pm Sat 10 Oct 09

First we heard from self-professed art experts that it wasn’t graffiti, but a great Banksy masterpiece. Now, apparently, the very same individuals are telling us that a graffiti masterpiece has in turn been ruined by graffiti. Following their logic, I would have thought these awfully clever people would actually be telling us that the more graffiti there is on this wall, the more valuable the original Banksy masterpiece becomes and how brilliant it is that Banksy has provoked thought and enabled others to get in touch with their inner artistic selves … or some other such laughable nonsense.

If you want to see some grown up art to provoke your artistic thoughts, visit the National Gallery or the Wallace Collection, which are both free to enter and are guaranteed to impress anyone in need of artistic stimulation. Alternatively, go to the Tate Modern, if you want to see the artistically inept leading and emptying the pockets of the artistically blind.

As for Banksy, he’s obviously laughing all the way to the bank - any publicity is good publicity. Finally, would Sutton Council now kindly stop dithering and just cover this mess up?

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bluegem says...
11:10am Wed 14 Oct 09

This makes me really angry. I want to write underneath 'true artists respect others work'. If the jealous idiots truely had something to say about Banksy they could have thought of an intelligent response to add to the peice and display their own skill instead of scrawling like a toddler. However if residents truely dislike the Banksy work I'm sure he would understand if it was covered over it is the nature of the medium that the peices tend to be there on a tempory basis.

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