Graffiti by "Banksy" on 19th century building in Treme, New Orleans; building has since been demolished. License
A graffiti art exhibition at Arts Arkade near Piccadilly Circus in London was shut down early after vandals swooped in overnight and smeared profanity on the walls.
The exhibit, Long Dark Tunnel, opened on March 21st and was supposed to run through this past weekend. It was helmed by graffiti writer 10Foot following his special, guest-edited edition of The Big Issue. This United Kingdom-based newspaper and enterprise acts as an avenue of awareness for social issues and is sold on the streets by those experiencing homelessness, unemployment, and/or marginalization.
10Foot’s issue featured a profile of Banksy interviewing Tox and Fume, two graffiti artists whose works were also presented in the Long Dark Tunnel. This exhibition was being held at a building owned by The Crown Estate— an independent commercial business and collection of land belonging to the sitting monarch.
However, following vandalism swaying towards anti-monarchy values— with the words “f*** the King” acting as the main point of contention— The Crown Estate pushed for the closure of the exhibit.
Prior to this, only one week into the show, supposed workers in Crown Estate garb removed the exhibition’s promotional poster on the building’s exterior with no advance notice to the artists. This now-vacant wall space was quickly replaced with signs that touted “graffiti artists will be decapitated” in red lettered Latin; the culprits of these threatening posters are still unknown.
10Foot spoke with the UK’s The Times about the criticism that many street artists face simply because of their choice of canvas. “We’re treated as antisocial idiots and they won’t engage in dialogue with us when we do something widely recognised as positive. Getting bullied by the powerful really makes you feel like a fox being chased by the hunt.”
London Underground 1962 Stock engineering train adorned with "TOX02" and "TOXIC" on the front, 2008. License
An assessment of further risk was compiled as concerns were raised by The Crown Estate, Westminster council, and the Heart of London Business Association following the repeated vandalism incidents.
Arts Arkade was eventually tasked with dealing with the defacement, which inevitably ended in the closure of the exhibit. In response to the events, Arts Arkade released a statement on their Instagram account, “Following serious incidents of vandalism and criminal damage to Arts ARKADE and some of our neighbours’ buildings, we have regretfully taken the decision to close the ‘Long Dark Tunnel’ exhibition earlier than scheduled. The criminal damage we’ve experienced is totally unacceptable and is not a matter we take lightly.”
Though some good did come out of the show, artists and supporters were still disappointed in the decision to end it all, rather than just cleaning up the mess.
