Red8 Gallery has announced another move for the Banksy mural, Valentine’s Day Mascara, from Yamaha Music London to the new Yield Gallery venue in Eastcastle Street, London.
The work is being moved to Yield Gallery for its opening exhibition on October 3 and will remain there for the month.
It is understood that discussions are taking place with a potential buyer for the piece. If this does not complete then it is expected to return to Margate by the end of November while a buyer is sought.
In August it was revealed the artwork could go to auction following an approach by ‘a community of art collectors.’
Banksy’s 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 2023, with an announcement that 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 – a comment on domestic violence 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 London in early 2024 and remained there until this latest move.
This summer Showpiece contacted ‘fractional’ owners ask them to vote whether to sell the piece and said a full sale would mean Thanet-based charity Oasis Domestic Abuse Service will receive £100,000 from the proceeds.
Julian Usher, from Red8 Gallery, said: “Red8 Gallery is pleased to announce that this amazing art piece that raises the awareness around domestic abuse is being moved from Yamaha Music London in Wardour Street to Yield Gallery in Eastcastle Street for their opening exhibition on Thursday 3rd October.
“Red8 Gallery and the owners of this piece would like to extend their thanks to Yamaha Music London for providing an amazing venue enabling the installation to reach a wider audience and for helping raise awareness of the charity, Oasis Domestic Abuse Services Margate.
“The piece will stay at Yield Gallery for October and the director and team invite people to come and see it and visit their new flagship Gallery at 56-57 Eastcastle Street, London.
“We would all like to wish Yield Gallery the best of luck for their new venture and we are pleased to support it.”
The funding for Oasis is earmarked to be used by the charity for preventative work aimed particularly at young people.
The sale of Valentine’s Day Mascara has previously been problematic. 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.
