Bye Bye Banksy! Iconic Painting Whitewashed by Bungling Worker After Building is Transformed into Muslim Centre.
Banksy’s artworks fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds and his graffiti is strewn across cities around the world.
But one man mistook the street art splashed on the side of his Muslim centre as vandalism and set about disguising it with white paint. Unbeknown to Saeed Ahmed the ‘Gorilla in a Pink Mask’ stencil had been a familiar landmark in the artist’s hometown of Bristol for over 10 years.
Before: The ‘Gorilla in a Pink Mask’ Bansky artwork before it was painted over by Saeed Ahmed
After: The Wall on Bristol’s Fishponds Road following Saeed Ahmed’s whitewashing
Mr Ahmed who was transforming the former North Bristol social club on Fishponds Road into a cultural centre spotted the image which featured a large hairy gorilla holding up a pink eye mask to its face. Claiming never to have heard of the elusive artist – whose identity remains a guarded secret – he set about whitewashing the wall.
He said: ‘I thought it was worthless.
‘I didn’t it know it was valuable. That’s why I painted over it. I really am sorry if people are upset.’
He is now exploring ways of recovering the painting and has enlisted the help of Richard Pelter the director and head conservator of the International Fine Art Conservation Studios. Mr Pelter has previously carried out major restoration work on buildings including Kensington Palace and Westminster Cathedral and now he is doing his best to restore the popular gorilla image.
Helping hand: Paintings conserver, Richard Pelter, attempts to uncover the Banksy painting
Recovery: Saeed Ahmed (right) has enlisted the help of painting conservator Richard Pelter (left) to help uncover the ‘Gorilla in a Pink Mask’ stencil
(Sadie Whitelocks / DailyMail)
