A tense standoff is developing between Melbourne City Council and Archibald painter Vincent Fantauzzo after a mural by the artist in a city laneway was removed by cleaners on Thursday.
Fantauzzo said he was "gutted" by the council's decision to remove the mural, which they deemed a "safety risk", and has accused them of damaging the laneway in the clean-up process.
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Archibald-winning artist's laneway mural removed
Melbourne City Council has removed Vincent Fantauzzo's Alice in Wonderland-esque mural from Strachan Lane.
"I'm just devastated, actually. No one until this point has contacted me personally or given me any indication of it being painted over," he told Fairfax Media.
"They've completely trashed the laneway. All the walls and bitumen are ripped up just because of some paint.
![Strachan Lane, Melbourne City Council is considering issuing an enforcement order to get it removed for safety reasons.](/web/20170414171350im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/k/1/v/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvk26s.png/1492119409137.jpg)
"They've sprayed into all the air units of the adjacent buildings where their kitchens are."
Fantauzzo painted the large mural in Strachan Lane at the start of the month in an attempt to attract people to the laneway and support street art.
The painter, who is married to Offspring actress Asher Keddie, part-owns a restaurant in the lane and said public support for the Alice in Wonderland-eqsue mural had been "incredible".
Fantauzzo said he was "baffled" by the council's reaction and accused them of ignoring previous requests from Strachan Lane tenants to clean up garbage in the area.
![Artist Vincent fantauzzo, outraged that council has started the removal of his laneway.](/web/20170414171350im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/k/3/e/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvk26s.png/1492119409137.jpg)
"With all the issues going on that could be solved in a hurry, why would they overnight make this a priority? This is obviously going to cost a lot of money.
"All the tenants in the laneway have complained about garbage in the laneway for months."
![Artist Vincent Fantauzzo with a painting of his wife, Asher Keddie.](/web/20170414171350im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/m/z/0/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvk26s.png/1492119409137.jpg)
Melbourne City Council said the painting of road surfaces was not permitted and could become a slipping hazard for vehicles and pedestrians.
Appearing on radio station 3AW in the wake of the controversy, lord mayor Robert Doyle said Fantauzzo had been given two weeks' notice to remove the mural.
Fantauzzo's restaurant, Harley House, will be given the clean-up bill.
The artist and an army of his friends repainted the mural on Wednesday with non-slip paint in an unsuccessful bid to pass council standards.
"We painted the whole thing in a non-slip paint, so that problem's gone," he told 3AW. "The only problem would be if someone gets dizzy walking down the street."
"Guys pushing deliveries love it when they walk down there, so I don't see it as a hazard."
@CraigDButt the art in the lane way off Exhibition St is being scrubbed away pic.twitter.com/Sr7xboISNV
— Jaimie (@jimini15) April 12, 2017
Cleaners attended the laneway about 8am on Thursday morning and began blasting the mural, which took Fantauzzo two weeks to paint.
The artist confronted cleaners in the laneway, with only a small part of the mural remaining.
The cleaners then returned with police in the afternoon to finish the removal.
Cleaners are back with POLICE at Strachan Lane to clear away Vincent Fantauzzo's street art. @cityofmelbourne pic.twitter.com/3nBgUUwDbb
— Ian Royall (@IanRoyall) April 13, 2017
Fantauzzo has won the Archibald's People Choice Award four times.
He said public support for the mural had been "incredible" and described the council's reaction as "shocking".
"To get that feedback, incredible feedback, hundreds of people taking photos and street art tours and tourists and not one negative comment, it kind of baffles me why it's turned into an issue for the council."
Cleaners have moved in this morning to wash away Vincent Fantauzzo's artwork in Strachan Lane, CBD pic.twitter.com/FunVleXFA1
— 3AW Breakfast (@RossAndJohn) April 12, 2017
Melbourne City Council did not respond by press time.
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