Looters Restoration

On November 18, 2017 Sean Cummings and Hill Harper, co-owners of the removed Looters work, unveiled the restoration of the work undertaken over several years to bring back the work as an "authentic architectural artifact". The combined stresses of age, numerous paint-overs, poster glue-overs, removing the work which was painted on 1200 pounds of building plaster, transporting, unloading, placing the work, reinforcing the work with backing material, a major fire, several iterations of restoration / conservancy work - all of this made bringing the work to its original state impossible - rather the goal was to restore and preserve this artistic message of Banksy's world famous satire and dark humor.

All pictures of the restoration project received before the unveiling on November 18, 2017 were kept in confidence until now, December 2, 2017.

In most, if not all cases, I have reduced the size of the photos, some may be cropped and some may be brightened or otherwise contrasted to bring out hidden details. During the course of communications subsequent from the first update here of December 2, 2017 I will add details as they emerge or remove things if so desired. Note: I added a newly obtained older photo, above, dated March 6, 2012.

The restoration / conservation effort occurred in three phases.

First phase

The first phase saw unintended circumstances. About six months after the work was removed from the building on Elysian Fields Avenue in the Marigny section of New Orleans to the New Orleans Conservation Guild on Royal Street, there was a four-alarm fire in the area which destroyed other artwork and restoration projects. Fortunately, the Looters work was stored outside the building, away from the immediate area of flames, under tarp awaiting restoration. Sean Cummings arrived on the scene while the firefighters were subduing the fire and requested that attention be directed to protecting the work. Sean credits the New Orleans Fire Department with saving the work.

Second phase

Looters was moved to an artist's studio in Arabi, Louisiana just east of New Orlean. Michael Davidson, a masonry specialist further stabilized the work and with help, using a "Tornado ACS micro particle machine that uses small micron sized soft plastic media (not silica)" was able to ablate through layers of the paint and poster glue. Although the original work was almost immediately protected with a "barrier coat" by the Elysian Field Avenue building owners, the coating was not good enough to fully withstand the ablation process of the outer layers of paint-over and at some point a decision was made to stop this method.

Michael Davidson's work was done in two multi-day sessions separated by, I think, a couple years (2014 and 2016)? It wasn't until the second period that the work was further secured to prevent further cracking.

In May 2015 I received an update from a studio visitor about the restoration of Looters at the studio in Arabi, Louisiana just east of New Orleans. A picture taken of the restoration dated March 26, 2015 was provided. In this picture the TV set image has improved and a small section of that "white eight" in the shopping cart has been removed. Thus the prior pictures must date prior to March 26, 2015.

Third Phase

After Michael Davidson's work in Arabi, Looters was moved back to the Marigny section of New Orleans inside a large undisclosed warehouse under the direction of Elise Grenier, hired by Sean Cummings to continue the restoration. According to Doug MacCash "Grenier is an authority on fine art conservation, with extensive experience restoring historical murals in Louisiana as well as Renaissance frescoes in Florence."

Elisa documented the state of the work and her approach subsequently taken [slightly edited]:

(1) Some fragments of overpainting were still present on the surface and obscured important details of the composition, interfering with legibility.
(2) In other areas, some abrasion and loss of original material were responsible for the loss of details.
(3) Some lesions had developed in a vertical and horizontal pattern, and the mural has suffered minor losses of material, and blistering of the paint strata.

Due to the solubility of the spray paint used by the artist, a predominantly mechanical method was adopted to remove the layers of overpainting by the conservator. Most solvents that would dissolve overpainting would also dissolve the original spray-paint as well, so much caution is required when using solvents.

Areas of further recovery were tested with varying strength solutions of M.E.K. in a gel support to prolong contact time. Removal of overpainting was then subsequently carried out with mechanical method (via surgical scalpel ) and neutralized with mineral spirits to eliminate residue of M.E.K

Some areas already abraded due to recovery, or else too delicate to sustain further intervention, could be selectively reconstructed via non- invasive, reversible, undetectable pictorial reintegration using conservation- approved pigments to recover the desired legibility.

The work was too badly damaged to restore it to its original state - rather the repair work focused on bringing the artwork back to life as a rather representative historical artifact. And in this they succeeded.

On October 19, 2019 I viewed the work at the International House Hotel lobby in New Orleans. The lighting presented difficulty in getting a good picture during a quick visit.

10. Trumpet Boy #2: status - unknown! - building demolished

Removal of Turtle with Hard Hat Shell must have happened quickly as this is the only original picture I've seen on the Internet.
In searching for this picture for attribution, I could not find it again, only some cropped versions with the left-hand column cropped out.
If this is yours please contact me

I did find one cropped version of the same photo with higher resolution
From an article by "staff" dated September 18, 2008 (the turtle had already been removed)
Story link ( http://slamxhype.com/art-design/more-banksy-stolen-from-new-orleans/ ) not working as of December 5, 2017

Gone - Picture taken by Stephanie on May 24, 2011

After the Turtle was removed it was allegedly sold on eBay via auction #220702354278 as "Hard-Hat Turtle". It sold for $5,700 on December 1, 2010. I later obtained detailed auction pictures and determined that the Turtle sold on eBay was a fake. The door panel on which the fake turtle was painted was on a similar door panel cleverly altered to look like the damaged real one. The real turtle showed up at the Kezler Gallery in the U. K. and was later sold after several years, probably in 2013. The title of the turtle work at Kezler was "Slow Progress". The Kezler asking price had been $40,000 at one time. If you know for how much, please contact me

Anatomy of a fake - initial investigation
Top picture archived from eBay
The bottom turtle is from the photograph of the door in place, see above
The forger(s) likely only had access to a low resolution picture and had to guess about the shell

Anatomy of a fake - follow-up work
Top picture from a scaled / rotated image from eBay auction #220702354278
Bottom Turtle from artnet - see artnet, and see Kezler
Obviously many differences

Gone - Picture taken by Stephanie on July 9, 2013

Six plus years later - the turtle lot is being kept neat, the house next door gone
Picture taken by me October 20, 2019

13. Rat with Broom: status - removed - building demolished after removal - new location unknown

Rat with Broom in place
Picture cropped from photo taken on August 29, 2008 by Infrogmation of New Orleans, see infrogmation

Detail - The Rat is wearing an apron
Picture from Internet - the original filename was "banksnolarip2.jpg" - If this is yours please contact me

Gone!
Picture from an article by nick burcher, dated September 22, 2008, see nick burcher (As of November 12, 2024, this link no longer works, goes to a gambling website)
I once came across a reference (do not have link) saying that the Rat with Broom image was sold on eBay. If you have any info about this please contact me.

Rat with Broom house refurbished
Picture taken April 11, 2009 by anthony turducken, see anothonyturducken

Rat with Broom house - more than seven years later!
Picture taken by Stephanie on September 13, 2016
Some deterioration with the stairs now a dirty blue and the door finish not visible behind an added iron gate
Also a light has been added as well as house number and mailbox, and a few other minor changes plus a wooden gate to the right

After three more years only the front remains and a big new house is in the back behind the frontages
Picture taken by me October 20, 2019

After well more than four years, the building is completely gone and the front of next door repainted
Picture taken by Stephanie May 15, 2024

14. Boy on Life Preserver Swing: status - removed - impressively restored: building demolished after picture painted over, blocks saved - new location International House Hotel lobby in New Orleans

Boy on Life Preserver Swing
Picture taken August 28, 2008 by a boxcar named ruin, see aBoxcarNamedRuin

Unknown man destroying the work
Picture taken September 17, 2008 by mags, see artbymags

Ruined
Photo taken September 18, 2008 by Keith Spera / The Times-Picayune, see Times-Picayune
(This link http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2008/09/money_in_the_banksy_an_open_in.html no longer works as of November 12, 2024)

Building gone - the building was on the slab to the right
Picture taken by Stephanie on July 10, 2013

The building was on the slab behind the slab in the foreground
Pictures taken by me on October 20, 2019 (2 pictures joined together in Photoshop)

16. Refrigerator Kite: status - in place, painted over mulitple times

Refrigerator Kite - The Boy Painting Flowers work (see #15 above) was replaced by Banksy within perhaps two days by this one
From a picture taken on August 29, 2008 by Infrogmation of New Orleans, see Infrogmation
See the tire? A faint shadow of the Gray Ghost is still visible above it

I applied extreme contrast using Photoshop with the previous picture to reveal the ghostly Ghost

Gone (that's a different tire!) - Picture taken by me on September 16, 2010
Did the building's owner have this painted over?
Faint clues of the second image still remain (see below)

With extreme Photoshop contrast, the kite boy's feet can be seen to the left of the tire and the tail of the kite to the far right.
Maybe the building owner will someday attempt restore the outer image?

Refrigerator Kite location - Picture taken by Stephanie on September 13, 2016
Six years later - building still there - lots of graffiti

Banksy boys study
Comparison of Refrigerator Kite boy with flipped and rotated Levee Boy Losing Umbrella
The left arm in Refrigerator Boy looks ad-libbed

Another three years, little change
Picture taken by me October 20, 2019

Another three years, whole side painted over again - will make restoration harder than ever!
Picture taken by Stephanie October 12, 2022

After another two plus years, an impressive massive mural! Did Menaceresa know there is a Banksy there, in fact two?
Picture taken by Stephanie May 15, 2024

17. No Loitering: status - assume destroyed - building demolished after picture painted over