As part of a visit to Glasgow in early 2001, Banksy’s ‘Peace is Tough’ exhibition (held jointly with Jamie Reid) at The Arches in Argyle Street saw the elusive, subversive artist leave three works inside the venue.
They are of Mona Lisa surrounded by a picture frame and, on her left, a gun-toting monkey sporting a tutu. Between the pieces are the words, ‘Every time I hear the word culture, I release the safety on my 9mm’.
However, all three artworks are in poor condition, having been accidentally covered with grey emulsion paint in 2007.
The Fine Art Restoration Company are to uncover these artworks and put them back on public and permanent display for the nation.
A team on international experts specializing in wall painting conservation will carefully remove the grey paint while protecting and revealing the original artwork hidden underneath. The restoration will be completed a section at a time.
This is understandably a painstaking and time-consuming work; the 3 artworks should be uncovered in approximately 5 months.
Chris Bull director of the Fine Art Restoration Company said: “It was fantastic to begin the restoration of the Banksy artworks – we had a great response from the public who were really interested to hear more about the project and how they could help. The public support is so important as we are crowdfunding the restoration.”
For every donation, donors can choose the receive an exclusive gift. The range of gifts being offered to donors includes a limited edition boxed canvas to official Banksy restoration prints and a poster.
The restoration project has received significant widespread publicity. STV and the BBC attended Argyle Street Arches for the launch and continue to be involved in documenting the progress. The story has also been covered in The Scotsman, The Herald and Conde Nast Traveller.
Annual Conservation will be done to ensure they are kept in excellent condition and enjoyed on permanent and public display.
Live videos will document the progress on Facebook and www.banksy.scot so members of the public and fans of Banksy can be part of the restoration every step of the way.
You can follow the restoration on the project website www.banksy.scot, or via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Opportunities for sponsorship are also available for companies that would like to back the project and be involved in the big reveals.
If you would like to support this project and donate, please visit the fundraising page on IndieGoGo.
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