In this artwork, how is the Defacements of the History elucidated?
On the night of 22 June 2009, 10 days into the Banksy Versus Bristol exhibition at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery just up the road, the mural was defaced by seven blue paintballs fired at the mural with a paintball gun. The perpetrator was never identified, although one suspect was King Robbo, due to his rivalry with Banksy at the time.Councillor Gary Hopkins described the vandalism as "disappointing" and promised that the council would remove the paint stains. Three of the seven splatters have since been removed, but the council cannot remove the others without damaging the work, so they remain.
Well Hung Lover was defaced again on 24 February 2018, with black graffiti tags, beside and below the work, with phrases "KAPE", "SOAK", and "FUCK BANKSY". The legs of the hanging man were also sprayed over.
Councillor paintball gun. King Robbo Bristol Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery graffiti tags paintballs Banksy rivalry with Banksy