Banksy-backed art exhibition shuts after anti-King graffiti

A graffiti exhibition supported by Banksy has been shut after vandals daubed “f*** the King” on a building owned by the Crown Estate.

The exhibition at Piccadilly Circus was closed under pressure from the landlord after graffiti appeared on the walls of the building and other Crown Estate-owned properties nearby.

A graffiti artist known as 10Foot guest-edited the Big Issue the week the show began, generating an estimated £500,000 for the magazine with record sales.

The edition featured Banksy interviewing another of the exhibition’s artists, Tox, who is known as Britain’s most imprisoned graffiti artist and whom Banksy has referred to in his own work.

Tox, whose real name is Daniel Halpin, was jailed in 2011 for a prolific campaign of graffiti across London which is estimated to have caused about £200,000 in damage.

After the show was shut, 10Foot told The Times: “It’s the same old story: we’re treated as antisocial idiots and they won’t engage in dialogue with us when we do something widely recognised as positive. Getting bullied by the powerful really makes you feel like a fox being chased by the hunt.

“We threw everything at this show with nothing but good, generative intention. People have come from all over the country in their hundreds. We raised hundreds of thousands for homeless people. But when someone’s written ‘f*** the King’ in the middle of the night we’ve been told we’re a risk and they have pulled the plug. They could clean it off but instead they’d prefer to throw us under the bus.”

Sam Moore was jailed in 2010 for causing more than £100,000 of damage writing 10Foot, but has never confirmed that the tag is his.

The Crown Estate is a £15.5 billion property portfolio held by the monarch, which generates a large proportion of the King’s wealth. It is one of the biggest landlords in the country.

The show, entitled Long Dark Tunnel, was closed on Thursday by Arts Arkade, the gallery that put on the exhibition at the Crown Estate property. There had been repeated incidents of vandalism to the building, yards from Piccadilly Circus, and others in the area, including at least one more owned by the Crown Estate.

The estate is understood to have put pressure on Arts Arkade to deal with the damage, which led to the show being closed early.

Less than a week after the exhibition opened, workers in hi-vis Crown Estate tabards tore down the agreed promotional poster outside. The artists claim there was no warning of the action, although there had been concerns raised about unsanctioned graffiti.

Soon after the large poster was replaced by smaller posters, with the artists’ tags above red Latin script reading graf scriptores decollabuntur — meaning graffiti artists “will be decapitated”.

An assessment document compiled by the gallery included concerns raised by the Crown Estate, Westminster council and the Heart of London Business Association. Fears that the problem would escalate were raised in its risk assessment, The Times understands, and concerns about potential copycats and “even protests” were also flagged.

The assessment also stated that the walls had been vandalised out of hours, and there was no evidence the artists or participants in the show had any knowledge of it.

Arts Arkade said on Instagram that the exhibition had achieved positive outcomes, but added: “Following serious incidents of vandalism and criminal damage to [our] and some of our neighbours’ buildings, we have regretfully taken the decision to close the Long Dark Tunnel exhibition earlier than scheduled. The criminal damage we’ve experienced is totally unacceptable and is not a matter we take lightly.”

The Crown Estate declined to comment.

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