Banksy’s Famous Brexit Mural Has Mysteriously Disappeared From the Side of a Building in a British Seaside Town

A powerful statement on Brexit
by Banksy has disappeared without a trace—or an
explanation.

The three-story mural, which
depicted a laborer chipping away at one of the yellow stars on a
blue European Union flag, appeared in January in Dover, a port city
on the English Channel that looks out onto continental Europe. It
was installed near the ferry terminal in May 2017 and quickly
became a melancholy symbol of what the country stood to lose from
Brexit. 

Scaffolding was installed on the
building last weekend and, on Monday, reports began circulating
that the mural had been removed and covered with white paint. So
far, there has been no comment or explanation from Banksy or the
town of Dover. A representative for Banksy did not respond to an
inquiry from artnet News, while a spokesperson for the city said
they knew nothing about the mural’s fate.

One official who has been vocal
about the work is Dover MP Charlie Elphicke. He said on Twitter that he was “very disappointed”
by the disappearance of the “culturally iconic statement on our
times.” He noted that the city had asked Historic England to place
the piece under protection, but that they refused. “This is the
result,” he said. “They
should hang their heads in shame.”

Very disappointed by the disappearance of
the Dover Banksy. A culturally iconic statement on our times. We
asked Historic England to se their powers to protect this work but
they refused. This is the result. They should hang their heads in
shame. pic.twitter.com/CZC3V7BJzZ

— Charlie Elphicke (@CharlieElphicke) August 26, 2019

Elphicke continued that if the
preservation body would agree to protect “the Abbey Road crossing
and even a 1960s Bournemouth bus depot described as ‘hideous,’”
then “they should have listed an iconic and culturally important
piece of art like our Banksy.”

Some are now looking to the
owners of the building, members of the Godden family, who own the
Godden Gaming Organization and operate a property empire that
extends across Folkestone, Thanet, as well as Dover, for an
explanation. The now-scaffolded building—a former arcade in
Dover—was due to be demolished before Banksy’s viral work showed up
there in 2017.

Curiously, the Brexit mural
wasn’t the first brush Banksy has had with the family: the Goddens
previously lost a High Court battle with the artist over permission
to sell one of his murals on a property they owned in
Folkestone. When that
work, called Art
Buff, first
appeared, the family
told the press that they intended to remove or sell it for £1
million ($1.2 million). (The Goddens added that they would “look to
benefit local charities with proceeds from any sale of the
piece.”)

It was a weird twist of fate,
then, when Banksy chose another Godden family building to create
his Brexit mural. And since its unexplained removal yesterday,
questions have been swirling on social media. Was the erasure
accidental, or a carefully planned gesture by an artist who has a reputation for
sparking a media frenzy? Or could the Dover removal be some
kind of payback from the Goddens?

Banksy’s Brexit piece had also
previously been vandalized with a small tag that said “the clash,” at
which point Dover’s district council announced plans to
monitor the work with CCTV. But so far, no answers are
forthcoming.

“We’re disappointed to see that
the Banksy mural appears to have been removed, recognizing that
this unique artwork had become a popular tourist attraction in the
town,” a Dover district council spokesman told artnet News.
“The property, which is in a state of considerable disrepair, is
privately owned, and the council was not involved in the current
activity, and was not made aware of any plans for it to take
place.”

The post Banksy’s Famous Brexit Mural Has Mysteriously
Disappeared From the Side of a Building in a British Seaside
Town appeared first on artnet News.