Islington shopkeeper puts ‘his’ Banksy behind perspex
This stencil by street artist Banksy appeared on Essex Road in March 2008
I came across this on Essex Road in Angel the other day. Judging from the perspex-glass panel over the stencil, I thought it must be a real Banksy.
This was promptly confirmed by an Islington Council spokesperson, who described Banksy’s work as “thoughtful and funny”.
The Tesco flag is not the only work by the famously anonymous street artist to be protected that way. His image of a rat near King’s Cross and his stencil of a classic artist finishing a scawled tag near Portobello market were also put behind glass for protection.
The protective measures have been taken by the owners of the buildings that Banksy chose to adorn with his work - not really surprising, seeing as his work is now selling for almost two million pounds.
Banksy has a global following that includes the likes of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Christina Aguilera.
Several UK councils are also fans. In Islington his works even get restored when they are vandalised and spared while others are painted over or removed.
“Quite a lot of residents are keen on them and, generally, they are in favour of them. So, where it has been possible, we have helped to repair them. If it would cost a fortune, we wouldn’t do that,” the council spokesperson explained.
He added that even a real Banksy would be removed, if it led to complaints - which none of Banksy’s works in Islington have in the past.
“If our residents say we don’t like this piece of graffiti, because it is aggressive or promotes guns or something like that, we’ll get rid of it. We are not going to say ‘Oh, let’s keep it, it’s a Banksy!’”
Tags: Angel, Banksy, graffiti, London, North London, Regent's canal, riot police
