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Archibald-winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo says he is heartbroken and shocked after his street art was removed from a Melbourne laneway by the local council because of safety concerns.
The painting, on the ground of Strachan Lane in the CBD, featured warped black and white checkered squares.
Fantauzzo, who is married to actress Asher Keddie, told Macquarie Media he painted the laneway to surprise people.
"It was a scary, dirty-looking laneway and we turned it into something that was appealing and a nice surprise for people to look at," he said on Thursday.
"We just finished yesterday. I had my kids out here painting and friends and family, people travelling from all places in Melbourne, coming to have a look and everybody in support.
He said the painting was done with non-slip paint and he did not believe it posed a risk to the public.
"There's no risk factor there, it's not a thoroughfare for cars, it's mainly people walking with trolleys," he said.
"It's actually become somewhere now that tourists have been coming down and taking photographs and people doing their wedding photographs yesterday."
Fantauzzo won the Archibald People's Choice Award in 2013 for a portrait of Keddie.
Melbourne has a internationally-renowned culture of laneway street art, which is celebrated on the official City of Melbourne tourism guide.
Photo:
The Mebourne City Council said it supported 'legitimate' street art. (ABC News: Jean Edwards)
The City of Melbourne said it was a strong supporter of "legitimate street art" but the painting of roads was not permitted.
"Painting of road surfaces creates a safety risk as the paint may be slippery in certain conditions, and could cause vehicles to skid or pedestrians to slip over," it said in a statement.
"The paint could also be highly reflective and create a visual distraction.
"We contacted Harley House Bar and Grill management last week and informed them that the road surface painting is not permitted and must be removed."
The artists said the council's support of the arts made the decision even more baffling.
"I'm just devastated, heart-broken, shocked. I actually just can't believe the reaction, with so many things going on that are pressing matters in Melbourne — car-jackings, ice … there's paint all over the floors in laneways all around Melbourne," he said.
"Overnight, for them to come in and sandblast and literally tear the bitumen up at the council's expense and not tell any of the people around … I wasn't out to offend anyone, or the council, I actually thought I was doing something really positive and making art accessible to people.
"Kids have been walking down here, so excited, so the reaction to me is really offensive and disappointing and not what I thought what Melbourne was about."
Topics: street-art, local-government, government-and-politics, community-and-society, melbourne-3000, vic
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