Banksy gorila, London Zoo
LONDON.- London Zoo on Sunday removed the last of its animal series by British street artist Banksy from one of the zoo’s entrances to “safeguard it” and allow full use of access during the summer months, the zoo said.
Banksy’s creation, which showed a gorilla pretending to lift a fence at London Zoo while allowing several birds and a seal to escape, has been replaced with a replica and a nearby sign reads “Banksy woz ere” (written in English slang) and apologises to fans of the Bristol graffiti artist.
“It was a great surprise for us. Arriving this morning, a few colleagues and I at about seven o’clock and being greeted by this magnificent work of art,” the commercial manager of London Zoo, Carl Penman, told EFE on the day the painting was unveiled.
Within hours, the zoo’s managers used a perspex cover to “protect it from the glare of the sun” and from possible acts of vandalism, such as those suffered by other works in the animal collection, such as the wolf, which was stolen by hooded men from a rooftop in south-east London, or the rhinoceros, which was graffitied.
“We are still working on exactly what to do with the artwork, but we want to properly preserve this moment in our history,” London Zoo said in response to some comments on the post announcing its removal.
The gorilla figure was the ninth and final work in the series dubbed by its followers, precisely, “the London Zoo”, preceded by a rhinoceros, a piranha aquarium, a cat, pelicans, a wolf, three monkeys, two elephants and a mountain goat in different locations in the British capital.
EFE
