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The director of the soon-to-be-released movie Mother! has apologised for an advertising agency painting a picture of star Jennifer Lawrence over an iconic Newtown mural.
Darren Aronofsky took to social media saying he was "embarrassed and furious" at Apparition Media for "breaking #1 graffiti rule" on the side of the heritage building fronting Enmore Road in Sydney's inner west.
Mr Aronofsky also offered to replace the "It's like a jungle sometimes" mural, which was painted 20 years ago and based on the famous hip hop song The Message by Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five.
The ad agency has promised to remove the massive portrait of the actor within days and then restore the original mural with the help of the artist who painted it.
Tyson Hunter from Apparition Media apologised to the public and the artist and said the agency had "learnt the hard way".
"We should have got in contact with the original artist first and we certainly won't be interested in painting over any other spaces that have murals on them," Mr Hunter said.
"We respect the community and we respect that this has upset the community so it is our intention to try and remove it as quickly as possible."
The original artist, who asked to remain anonymous, told the ABC he painted the mural with several other artists during what he described as a "heavy time" in their lives.
"The mural was mean to be something that represented how I was feeling at the time and I was feeling beside myself, depressed and definitely a little suicidal, which is hard to say now," he said.
"The message then is the same message now, you know, that was the name of the song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five."
Mr Hunter said as a measure of goodwill to the artist, the hotline number for suicide prevention organisation Lifeline has been included on the mural.
The advertisement for the new Paramount Pictures was not sanctioned by local authorities.
Despite the plans made by the artist and ad agency to restore the original mural, Inner West Council is still investigating.
"Council did not approve this advertisement, and the display of advertisements is generally prohibited in heritage areas," a spokeswoman for the council said.
"Like many members of the public, [the Council] was very disappointed to see the iconic 'It's a Jungle Out There' [sic] artwork painted over," she said.
"While Council is pleased to see positive action to re-instate the iconic mural, the investigations by Council's compliance section will continue and if a breach is detected, appropriate regulatory action will be taken."
The maximum penalty by way of an infringement notice is $6,000 but in the event of prosecution a court has the power to impose a maximum $1.1 million fine.
Topics: film, thriller-films, contemporary-art, local-government, visual-art, newtown-2042
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