Law & Politics
Secrets of Famous Banksy Sculpture Heist Revealed
Henri Neuendorf
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The Banksy Job, a documentary about the theft in broad daylight of a huge Banksy sculpture, has launched a crowdsourcing campaign and might hit the screens as early as 2016, Complex Magazine reports.
In March 2004, the elusive street artist illegally erected a ten foot-tall statue in a small square near Shaftesbury Avenue in London. The statue, called The Drinker, was modeled after Rodin’s The Thinker, albeit Banksy’s protagonist had a traffic cone on its head and looked a little worse for wear.
A few days later, a group of masked thieves known as Art Kieda—led by a self professed “art terrorist” called AK-47—stole the work in broad daylight with the help of a flatbed truck.
Following the theft, AK-47 sent a ransom note to a reporter demanding £5,000 ($7,800) in exchange for the safe return of the sculpture.
The statue was stolen by thieves with the help of a flatbed truck
Photo: Still from trailer
The media followed the bizarre incident for several weeks, which culminated in Banksy offering a mere £2 ($3) to get his artwork back.
“This is one of those stories you can’t quite believe is true, which is what makes it so interesting,” the duo producing the film told Dazed. “[There is the] theft and destruction of the statue, the artists, gangsters, AK47’s private anarchist army, and then there are the struggling artists, still waiting to get paid for building the statue,” they explained.
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