Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
He’s laughing all the way to the Banksy...
Mural sells for over £100,000
A GARAGE owner has sold a mural Banksy painted on his wall for more than £100,000.
Ian Lewis, 55, turned down bigger offers and flogged the piece to an art collector who vowed to keep it in Port Talbot, South Wales.
Mr Lewis, a former steelworker, decided to sell the work because he struggled to sleep as 20,000 people came to the garage at the back of his home to view it.
Street artist Banksy confirmed he was behind the image, which appeared before Christmas. It shows a young boy dancing in what at first appears to be snow but is really ash falling from a fire.
Banksy collector John Brandler confirmed he paid over £100,000 I saw a baguette in a cage at the zoo. The zookeeper said it was bread in captivity. for the piece. Mr Lewis said: “The offer was less than others but this man agreed to keep it in the town.
“Other people wanted to take it away. I think the town has fallen in love with it. It would have been a shame for it to move.”
Mr Lewis plans to use the cash to rebuild the garage at the back of his home and for a “few holidays”.
Mr Brandler, based in Essex, says the mural will stay in the town for “a minimum of two to three years”.
The image is said to be a protest against pollution from the local steel plant. And Mr Brandler added: “It is one of Banksy’s best pieces and makes a strong political comment. Ian was amazing not going for the highest price to keep it in the community.”
As fans flocked to the site, actor and Port Talbot native Michael Sheen, 49, paid for security.