This is a tale of two murals: one painted on the side of a building in Greenwich by an artist commissioned by the owner, the other scrawled on a building in Finsbury Park by a fly-by-night graffiti artist. You can probably guess which one the local authority has ordered to be removed under threat of enforcement action and a large fine, and which one has been welcomed by the local MP Jeremy Corbyn, who said he was ‘delighted’.
Once again, the law has been shown to be blatantly on the side of middle class taste. Chris Kanizi, who owns the Golden Chippy in Greenwich, just wanted to brighten the area up a bit with a painting of a bag of chips, a Union Jack and the words ‘a great British meal’. Many would argue that Banksy, too, has succeeded in cheering up a dull street in Finsbury Park with green paint splashed over a wall to imitate the leaves of a bare, pollarded tree.
While Banksy has the support of the middle classes, an advert for a fish and chip shop is just too oikish
But why are planning laws, not to mention property laws, continually bent in order to favour the pseudonymous artist when they continue to come down so heavily against anyone else who has a go? Banksy is not just tolerated: some of his works have been listed, so the owners of the buildings on which they have been sprayed couldn’t even remove them if they wanted to.
Surely, if Banksy’s works are to be welcomed by officialdom, local authorities should be happy to allow others to try their hand at street art too – at least where the owners have given their permission. But it won’t happen, of course.
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