Margate’s Banksy is expected to be on the move again by the end of this month following a request from Yamaha Music London for the piece to be removed.
The Valentine’s Day Mascara originally appeared on a property in Margate’s Park Place on February 13 last year. The piece was then removed the following month, overseen by Red Eight Gallery which was called in by the artist owners of the property to deal with preservation and sale of the work.
The removal process cost £195,000.
It was taken to Dreamland and unveiled in June, with an announcement in August that the park would be the permanent home of the artwork following a decision to sell it by issuing shares.
Showpiece announced a ‘fractional ownership’ plan for the piece, which has been valued at £6 million, with 27,000 shares costing £120 each.
Last September the piece, which weighs some 3.8 tonnes, was on the move to be shown as one of the 110 works in the Art Of Banksy exhibition at Regent Street.
At that time Dreamland bosses said: “We anticipate that the artwork will return to Margate to take up its place in Dreamland again in early 2024.”
However, the art – which shows a woman with a swollen shut eye and missing tooth with a man’s legs poking out from a chest freezer, alongside an upturned chair – then went on show at the Yamaha store in early 2024 and has remained there since.
There was an official unveiling at the store on Friday 16 February which raised £4054 for Oasis Domestic Abuse Service.
The mural was expected to return to Dreamland by the ‘end of Spring’ but that return has not happened despite a pledge that the park would be the permanent home of the artwork following a decision to sell it by issuing shares.
A Yamaha London spokesperson said: “Yamaha Music London has requested the installation to be removed no later than the end of August and is currently waiting for Julian Usher of the Red Eight Gallery to confirm the removal date.”
The original owners pledged to donate a six figure sum out of the sale price to Oasis Domestic Abuse Service which has operated in Thanet for 30 years and expanded to North Kent and Medway in recent years.
The funding for Oasis is earmarked to be used by the charity for preventative work aimed particularly at young people.
However, that sale is not yet complete and so the sum has not been passed to the charity as yet.
The sale is problematic because most UK auction houses will not take it on because Banksy’s Pest Control – the only official organisation responsible for the authentication of his artworks and the issuing of certificates of authenticity – has not issued paperwork for it.
According to the Showpiece website there are currently 41 Margate Banksy ‘pieces’ being offered for sale with prices starting at £120. However, currently ‘piece’ owners say they have received no information about when, or if, the mural will return to Margate or if it will be sold.
Red Eight Gallery has been contacted to ask where the Valentine’s Day Mascara’s next destination will be.
