Banksy Work Threatened in Detroit

A mural painted by the pseudonymous British artist Banksy has been taken off display at a nonprofit art gallery in Detroit after the art gallery said the work had been threatened with defacement or destruction, reports Dave Itzkoff for the New York Times via the Detroit Free Press. The mural, which depicts a boy holding a can of paint and standing next to the message I REMEMBER WHEN ALL THIS WAS TREES, was discovered at the city’s abandoned Packard Plant in May. A few days later the seven-by-eight-foot, 1,500-pound cinder block wall bearing the work was taken by artists from the 555 Nonprofit Art Gallery and Studios, who said they were given permission by a crew removing scrap metal from the plant. Carl W. Goines, the executive director and co-founder of the art gallery, told The Free Press, “There was a lot of anxiety with the threats, so our board of directors requested that we move it until it can be displayed safely.” The gallery artists said they were not seeking to sell the Banksy work and were trying to preserve and protect it. For full source and full article click the Headline. Irish Art