Banksy mural on garage in Wales sold but will stay in place

By: Katrina Hallare - 6 years ago

FILE – In this file photo dated Dec, 20, 2018, showing an artwork by Banksy on the side of a garage depicts a child dressed for snow playing in the falling ash and smoke from a skip fire, in Port Talbot, Wales. The artwork has been sold to an Essex art dealer for a “six-figure sum”, although the mural will stay in its current location for about two-years, it is revealed Friday Jan. 18, 2019. Image: Ben Birchall/PA FILE via AP

LONDON — A British art dealer says he has bought a mural stenciled by street artist Banksy on a garage wall in Wales for more than 100,000 pounds ($129,000 or around P59.5 million).

The artwork in Port Talbot shows a child playing in falling ash from a dumpster fire, an apparent reference to the steel town’s air pollution.

Security guards were hired to protect the work after it appeared in December on a steelworker’s garage.

John Brandler of Brandler Galleries in eastern England said Friday he has agreed that the mural will stay in place for at least two years.

He said “I want to make Port Talbot a go-to place rather than a go-from place. Within a short time, I’m thinking of bringing five or six more Banksys to Port Talbot. Let’s do an exhibition. MKH

Banksy’s new artwork in Wales: A comment on air pollution?