City misses out on deal to buy Banksy
OWNERS UNABLE TO SECURE DEAL TO KEEP IT IN CITY
BANKSY’S ‘Hula Hoop Girl’ street art has been lost to Nottingham after it was sold for a ‘six-figure sum.’
The artwork caused huge interest when it appeared on the side of a commercial building in Ilkeston Road four months ago and was confirmed by the famous artist as his work days later.
But yesterday morning, people living nearby woke to find workmen removing the wall containing the image and it was later confirmed that its new home will be in a museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Owners of the Ilkeston Road building and the artwork’s buyer have confirmed that the move came after efforts to find a local site and owner came to nothing.
Buyer John Brandler, owner of Brandler Galleries in Brentwood, Essex, said: “The great and the good of Nottingham have had the opportunity to approach the building owner since this piece arrived to say we would like to keep it for the city of Nottingham. I didn’t turn up in the middle of Nottingham with a chainsaw and steal it.
“Anybody in Nottingham could have done the same thing.”
The owners of the property, said: “In October we had a bit of a shock finding that someone had graffitied on our property. When we realised it could be a ‘Banksy,’ we immediately started to see if we could donate it locally.
“Unfortunately, despite substantial discussions with a number of local organisations, charities and national bodies over the past four months, none were able to commit to taking ownership of the art.”
A spokesperson for The Nottingham Project, a board set up with the aim of rejuvenating the city said: “Whilst we respect that this was a private decision for the landlord, we think it’s a great shame that the City has lost its Banksy.”
THE new owner of Banksy’s Nottingham mural has outlined his plans for the work after buying it for a ‘six-figure sum.’
John Brandler, owner of Brandler Galleries in Brentwood, Essex, admitted the piece would not stay in Nottingham and said ‘the great and good’ of the city did not take the opportunity to keep it here.
He claimed it had been up to the Nottingham art community and council to ensure that it stayed in the city.
Rather than stay in place as other Banksy works bought by Brandler Galleries have, the mural which appeared in Ilkeston Road four months ago, will be sent to a museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, where Mr Brandler said it could remain “for a number of years” after being featured in a special exhibition between May and September.
When questioned as to why the work will not remain in Nottingham, Brandler said “because nobody asked me”.
He added: “The great and the good of Nottingham have had the opportunity to approach the building owner since this piece arrived to say we would like to keep it for the city of Nottingham.
“Anybody in Nottingham could have done the same thing. Everybody’s got 2020 hindsight.”
Mr Brandler has a notable history in dealing with Banksy artworks, including the famous Port Talbot mural which he bought in January 2019.
That mural, known as Season’s Greetings, has remained in place at its site in South Wales, a decision which Mr Brandler took to “help the local community and put Port Talbot on the art world map”.
He added: “I don’t like to see these amazing pieces of artwork being left on walls and being vandalised.”
Speaking about the Nottingham mural, he added: “The council were very kind and they put plastic on it, but they didn’t leave any air between the plastic and the wall which means when it gets damp you get mould. The damp comes up through the brickwork.
“An awful lot of Banksies have turned up over the years, they are admired initially and then the interest dissipates and they gradually deteriorate with time and after three or four years there’s no Banksy left. We’re not doing this to destroy the Banksy we’re doing it to protect it.”
Neither party has said how much the artwork has been sold for, however Mr Brandler said that it was a “six-figure sum”.
Speaking to the Post, the owners of the property where the artwork appeared in October, who do not wish to be named, have described the difficult process which led to their decision to remove the work and donate it.
The owners of the property, on the corner of Ilkeston Road and Rothesay Avenue issued the following statement:
“In October we had a bit of a shock finding that someone had graffitied on our property. When we realised it could be a ‘Banksy’ despite us not wanting it to remain on the wall, we immediately started to see if we could donate it locally. “Unfortunately, despite substantial discussions with a number of local organisations, charities and national bodies over the past four months, none were able to commit to taking ownership of the art for various reasons. Once it was clear that we would be unable to gift it, we explored other options and have sold it to Brandler Galleries. “Since we were unable to donate the artwork itself, we’ll be donating the proceeds privately instead. We want to thank the local community for their support, from those cleaning the protective screen, Kyle for replacing the bike and to Nottingham City Council for keeping visitors safe. We hope it brought some joy to people in an otherwise difficult time.”
We’re not doing this to destroy the Banksy, we’re doing it to protect in.
John Brandler