London Zoo Takes Down Banksy's Gorilla Artwork
The final act of Banksy’s animal art series has been removed from the London Zoo in Regent Park.
The final act of Banksy’s animal art series has been removed from the London Zoo in Regent Park. The piece depicted a black and white threshold gorilla sprawled across the zoo’s entrance in the artist’s signature style. The ape is figured lifting the steel gates, releasing a menagerie of animals into the streets of London. Today, a recreation of the work stands in its place, with a sign that reads “Banksy woz ere”.
The zoo celebrated the cheer and “powerful connection to wildlife” the piece extends to onlookers via Instagram. However, an official statement on their website reflects the zoo’s decision to remove the artwork so that could resume full operations after a mass influx of visitors came to catch a peak of the anonymous artist’s work. “This has become a significant moment in our history that we’re keen to properly preserve,” says the zoo’s chief executive officer, Kathryn England, though an official preservation site has yet to be determined.
Banksy’s ‘guerilla gorilla’ is the fifth animal in the series to be stolen, removed, or defaced since their initial appearance on August 4. A wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham was stolen by a group of masked men, a cat in Cricklewood was taken away by the billboard’s owner, a rhino in Charleton stands riddled in graffiti, and a school of hungry piranhas swarming a police box has been removed by police officials.
Much of Banksy’s work both within and outside of the animal series has been removed from public spaces to find more permanent homes in the walls of galleries and museums. Though pieces like the gorilla artwork only manage to last a few days outside, the frequent removals and defacing of the artist’s work speak to the beauty of ephemera in street art.
