Art / News
Banksy’s Grim Reaper removed from Thekla
When Banksy painted the Grim Reaper on the steel hull of the Thekla, he did so in the dead of night, secretly and silently.
When the stencil was removed this morning, it was by workers in blue overalls and hard hats brandishing blowtorches.
One of Banksy’s few surviving works in Bristol – in fact a second version after the original was ordered to be painted over by the harbour master – will now be restored before going on display at the M Shed.
More than 10 years of exposure to the elements causing ongoing deterioration to the piece has led Thekla’s owners DHP to remove the work while the ship is currently in dry dock and loan the Grim Reaper to the city council on a long term basis.
George Akins from DHP said: “It is great that we have been able to work with Bristol City Council to display this iconic Bristol artwork.
“We really wanted to make sure, that although it is being removed from its intended setting, people could still see it for free and will now get a better view of it.
“To be clear we have no intention of selling the Banksy, we just wanted to preserve the piece of art before it deteriorated too much and we wouldn’t have had another opportunity to do this for a further eight years.”
The Thekla is in dry dock at Abels Shipyard in Albion Dockside for maintenance work until September 8 before returning to its usual position on The Grove and reopening for bands and club nights on September 11.
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