A Banksy mural that was cut from a wall in Folkestone and shipped to the US to be sold at an art fair is due to go back on show in the seaside town by the end of the year.
Following a lengthy legal battle, a high court judge ruled on 11 September that Art Buff, which was painted by the British street artist during the Folkestone Triennial in September 2014, should be returned. The work was verified on Banksy’s website with the words: “Part of Folkestone Triennial. Sort of.”
But Robin Barton, the owner of Bankrobber Gallery in London, which supervised the work being cut from the wall of an amusement arcade, says the mural was far from a celebration of the Folkestone Triennial. “It was, in fact, a biting satire and rebuke over the squandered funds lavished on a disparate collection of art installations and events visited on a town broken by poverty and enforced immigration,” Barton says.
The dealer says it was Banksy who returned two weeks later to paint the phallus on the plinth; other reports said the work had been vandalised. “Banksy has used the phallus motif in other paintings. You could say it’s a coincidence, but I don’t think so,” Barton says.
Alastair Upton, the director of the Creative Foundation, which runs the Folkestone Triennial, says the satirical nature of Banksy’s work was not lost on the arts charity. “Art is subjective and the location, context and imagery of the work is all part of Banksy’s response,” he says. “Art Buff was a welcome addition to Folkestone Triennial and we are incredibly happy to be able to bring this gift back to Folkestone.”
Before the triennial ended, the mural was removed and shipped to Stephan Keszler’s New York gallery, where it was valued at around $750,000. The work was then exhibited at an art fair in Miami in December, but failed to sell.
Meanwhile, the Creative Foundation launched a legal challenge against Dreamland Leisure and the Godden family, the leaseholders of the building who ordered the removal and sale of the mural. In the high court ruling on 11 September, the judge said that once Art Buff had been cut from the building it belonged to the freeholder of the property, not the leaseholder, and should be returned to the Creative Foundation, which had bought the rights to the work for an undisclosed amount.
“Due to confidentiality we can’t reveal how much the rights to the work cost but we can confirm it was significantly less than the value of the work and an incomparable amount compared to the value and pleasure the work will give to Folkestone and its residents,” Upton says.