The Toronto Star reports that the city has painted over a mural that the city had paid $2,000 to produce. This sounds vaguely reminiscent of an incident I blogged about two years ago when the Glastonbury council grey washed a Banksy mural which had just been sold to a collector for £5,000. According to the Toronto Star article, the city acted in response to a citizen complaint that the mural was political.
Political? That sounds like a euphemistic way of saying “I don’t like it”, which is a highly political statement in its own right. Isn’t all expression inherently political? How about the grey washing? Can I complain to the city and ask them to remove the grey paint because it’s a political statement?
Isn’t it amazing how we are all required to endure dull grey walls because anything else might offend somebody? I find that offensive. What a boring place to live.
As an antidote, I invite you to nab a copy of a gorgeous book called Toronto Graffiti: The human behind the wall, compiled and edited by Yvette Farkas. It profiles the work (photos and interviews) of crews in the 416 area code. Look for more about the book in future posts.