Banksy's "Grim Reaper" Piece Has Been Removed from a Ship in Bristol After 10 Years

Image via Bristol Post

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A week after his Spy Booth piece was defaced in Cheltenham, yet another Banksy piece has been altered from its original state, this time in Bristol. The Bristol Post reports that the street artist's Grim Reaper has been blowtorched and cut out of the side of the Thekla club ship in Bristol Harbor.

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After 10 years of leaving the piece as-is, club owner George Akins and the DHP Family decided to have it removed while the boat is docked for renovations. "It is great that we have been able to work with Bristol City Council to display this iconic Bristol artwork," Akins told the Bristol Post today. "We really wanted to make sure that although it is being removed from its intended setting, people could still see it for free and will now get a better view of it."

Unlike the situation in Cheltenham, Akins and his team are not looking to profit off of the Grim Reaper. "To be clear, we have no intention of selling the Banksy. We just wanted to preserve the piece of art before it deteriorated too much and we wouldn’t have had another opportunity to do this for a further eight years." Mayor George Ferguson thanked the DHP Family and said that "Grim Reaper has been one of Bristol Harbors' more familiar residents on the hull of the famous Thekla nightclub for the past ten years or so," adding that he looks forward to seeing the piece at its new home at M Shed.

To see a short video of the piece being removed, head to the Bristol Post link below.

[via Bristol Post]