Banksy Street Art

August 11, 2010 at 10:23am

Alleged Banksy work from Detroit up for bid on eBay →

If you don’t know, when Banksy hit Detroit earlier this year it was a lot of happy excitement in the community for a day or two immediately followed by a lot of greed. The drama started with the 555 Gallery taking it upon themselves to “preserve” a piece by taking it to their gallery to display. The shit really hit the fan when someone alleging to be the owner of the abandoned Packard Plant (where a few of the tags were located) came forward and sued 555 for stealing from them. The joke, however, is on them because now that we finally know who owns the plant the city can hold them responsible for the mess going on there.

Now the final Detroit Banksy (it was found a week or so after the rest) is being auctioned on eBay, presumably by the owner of the Packard Plant.

(ed.) Thanks for your submission! Indeed that’s what everybody expected to happen. Same feelings for the piece 555 were going to “preserve”, I wonder how long it will take before they put it up for auction as well. If our followers want to read more about this, go read the article on freep.com.

July 9, 2010 at 12:42pm

Gallery sued over removal of Detroit Banksy mural

DETROIT — A company that claims ownership of the Packard plant in Detroit has sued a gallery over the removal of an 8-foot, 1,500-pound section of cinderblock wall featuring stenciled artwork and a message by elusive British graffiti artist Banksy.

The Detroit News reports that Bioresource Inc. says in the lawsuit Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court that the mural taken by 555 galleries and studio could be worth $100,000 or more. The company wants the mural returned.

Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday at the gallery.

Gallery workers and volunteers converged on the abandoned car plant in mid-May and removed the mural. It features a figure of a child holding a bucket of red paint and brush alongside the message: “I remember when all this was trees.”

Source?

June 18, 2010 at 12:40pm

Packard plant owner removes newfound Banksy mural

For the second time in a month, a mural at the derelict Packard Plant created by the internationally known British graffiti artist and provocateur called Banksy has been excavated from its original site. Except this time, it was removed by agents working for a partner of the building’s owner.

The 6-foot painting of a yellow canary was carved out of the wall at the Detroit plant and carted away on Thursday. The crew who carried out the removal left the message “The canary has flown its coup” in red letters next to the hole. Pete Adamo, 57, of Clarkston, a speculator and developer affiliated with the building’s primary owner, Romel Casab, said he was responsible for having the mural moved.
Adamo also hired a security detail of four men to guard the picture 24 hours a day since Saturday, when a story about the Banksy ran in the Free Press, prompting a swarm of curiosity seekers and, according to Adamo, vandals who wanted to sneak into the plant and destroy it. “I hired the guards to protect it, before it was defaced,” said Adamo.

Citing other Banksy works that have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Adamo said his intention is to donate the work to a respected gallery or museum in order to receive a tax deduction. However, authenticating and appraising graffiti art removed from its original context is a hornet’s nest, leaving its ultimate value in the marketplace unclear.

Last month, artists from 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios controversially removed another Banksy mural from the Packard and displayed it in their Detroit space.

Adamo and his partners have been in discussions with the gallery about ownership rights.

Source

June 7, 2010 at 12:50pm