With a few swipes of a paint roller, actor Christopher Walken wiped away a real Banksy painting from the side of a building in England on an episode of BBCтАЩs тАЬThe OutlawsтАЭ that aired Wednesday night.
Although BanksyтАЩs work has fetched millions of dollars at auction, Walken unceremoniously painted over the artwork on the comedy-drama series, which is set in BanksyтАЩs hometown, Bristol.
A spokesperson from Big Talk Productions, the showтАЩs production company, confirmed that the artwork was тАЬan original BanksyтАЭ and that Walken painted over it during filming, тАЬultimately destroying it.тАЭ
The production company offered no more details, and a representative for Banksy did not respond to a request for comment.
Banksy, a street artist and one of the worldтАЩs most expensive artists, has rigidly maintained his anonymity. He has often manipulated the news media with stunts, notably in 2018 when a painting self-destructed moments after it was sold for $1.4 million at auction. That painting, retitled тАЬLove Is in the Bin,тАЭ was recently resold by SothebyтАЩs in London for $25.4 million, a record for the artist.
In the BBC show, directed by and starring comedian Stephen Merchant, WalkenтАЩs character, Frank, is ordered to perform community service. He and several other characters don high-visibility vests as they clean up graffiti from a wall on the side of a building in Bristol.
WalkenтАЩs character, fulfilling his duties, knocks over a board leaning against the wall, revealing a painted black-and-white rat and two canisters, recognizable in BanksyтАЩs style even if the word тАЬBANKSYтАЭ werenтАЩt spray-painted on the wall in orange.
тАЬLook at this rat I found,тАЭ he says to his supervisor, played by Jessica Gunning, who, thoroughly uninterested, spends her supervision reading with her back turned to the wall.
After he explains it was a graffiti rat, not a real one, she responds: тАЬCouncil said paint over any graffiti, so crack on.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs awfully good,тАЭ he protests.
тАЬLess debating, more painting,тАЭ she shoots back.
Walken shrugs, and then the camera zooms tightly on the artwork as he covers it entirely with six strokes.
The BBC did not immediately put a clip of the scene on YouTube, but it made the episode available to watch on its iPlayer service for those in Britain.
This article originally appeared in┬аThe New York Times.
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