‘Biggest pasteup’ Jeffrey the giraffe is peeling
JEFFREY the giraffe is becoming a shadow of his former self.
The twostoreyhigh mural of the African artiodactyl mammal was put up on the corner of Jetty and Crawford Sts earlier this year by French artist Sophie Photographe. But now it is peeling off. Dunedin Street Art project trustee Justin Cashell said that was not part of the plan.
‘‘It was our first project in a different format — instead of using paint, we did a pasteup.
‘‘That giraffe was a world first. It was the biggest pasteup ever attempted.
‘‘Unfortunately, due to the nature of the wall being brick, air has gotten underneath it and it’s started to fall off.
‘‘In saying that, nothing is forever with street art. It was still a great project.’’
He had informed Photographe about the state of her artwork, and while she was disappointed, she was very understanding.
‘‘She knew that it might not last forever.’’
Negotiations were taking place with an artist to put a new mural on the wall, and the building’s owner was ‘‘fully on board and excited’’ about the project, Mr Cashell said.
The next one would be created by going back to a tried and trusted method — painting.
The identity of the artist was being kept secret.
‘‘It will be by a New Zealand artist — someone whom we’ve been in talks with for five years and we’ve never been able to get because they’re normally travelling the world.
‘‘But due to Covid19, we’ll hopefully be able to pull it off this summer.’’
The giraffe would be waterblasted off the wall before the end of the year, so the new mural could be created.
‘‘Unfortunately, Jeffrey will have to rest in peace.’’