Battle to Survive A Broken Heart

The True Saga of a Banksy Masterpiece

October 6, 2013, 6:30pm. Vassilios Georgiadis, age 59, is standing on the sidewalk just outside the drab warehouse that contains the equipment and supplies vital for him and his son, Anastasis, to run their roofing and asbestos / lead abatement business. At the corner of King and Van Brunt Streets, he has watched as this gritty industrial section of Brooklyn known as “Red Hook” has begun taking on a new look with the invasion of singles and young couples anxious to flee the high-rent districts of nearby Manhattan in clear sight just across New York City’s East River.

Preparing to go home after a hard day on the job, Vassilios notices a dark-colored van maneuvering into a parking spot near the corner. Having owned the warehouse for decades, he has come to know that large trucks, turning off Van Brunt onto the far narrower King Street, tend to cut the angle. Vehicles parked too close to the intersection stand a good chance of getting clipped.

Instinctively, Vassillios calls out with words of caution to the driver of the van, a man of roughly similar age. Being advised of the inherent danger of the parking spot, the driver makes clear that he is only stopping for a few minutes, intending to dash out to the nearby convenience store. With that, Vassilios waves the driver onto the entranceway of his warehouse and safe from any danger. Following instructions, the driver is now about to exit the van for the short run to the store when he offers Vassilios coffee and cigarettes. “Thanks, but I have my own” says Vassilios. The driver of the van with his distinct British accent politely says “Thank you, I appreciate you!”. The driver, indicating that he needed to go to the store anyway, said that he would be moving his van in a few minutes. As it was getting dark, the two men spoke for a few minutes and then went their separate ways… Vaissilios to his wife Koula who would have dinner waiting, and the van driver to the convenience store.

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It should be said that somewhat ironically, not long before this encounter, Anastasis (Vassilios’ son) had painted the concrete exterior walls of the small warehouse a neutral gray, covering up a plethora of graffiti “tags” and other artistic renderings from local street artists. As painter after painter attempted to outdo his/her predecessors, the end result - in the words of the Georgiadis family - was that it was “a mess.”

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As it turns out, neither Vassilious nor Anastasis went to the warehouse the next morning. With a job in progress across the mighty Verrazano Bridge in Staten Island, they had no need to stop at 142 King Street. It was therefore Koula who started getting the calls. And calls. From locals like Fox 5 (the NYC Fox TV affiliate) to international agencies including Al Jazeera, the Middle East’s dominant news provider.

But Koula, a sweet and wholesome woman, was clueless as to who these callers were and to the reason for their calls. “My son will deal with this when he comes home from work.” she thought.

5pm rolls around and sure enough, Anastasis arrives home just in time to answer a phone call from a journalist at one of NYC’s most iconic, albeit smaller, news publications - the Village Voice. “You’ve heard of the mysterious artist Banksy whose enigmatic creations were causing big-time commotions on at least the North American and European continents?” she asks. As it turned out, the young man had indeed heard of Banksy as, at that point, not many hadn’t (heard of the artist.) “So why are you calling here?” he asks. “The Voice’s research points to your family as the owner of the building at 142 King Street in Red Hook. Is that right?”

OK, so it was right. But what does that have to do with us? Anastasis thought. “Well, Banksy was reported to be here in the States, and was on a mission to create a body of works of art he was labelling his Better Out Than In series. The artist’s stated intention was to paint 31 unique images over a period of 31 days. These works would be created at sites across the City of New York. Some of them might command sizable interest, others might never be discovered.” she went on to say, further indicating that it was the Village Voice’s intention to track down and document as many of these creations as possible.

(Listen for the drum roll…) “And Banksy created a beauty on the
side of your King Street warehouse!”

Hard to imagine, but the Georgiadis family proved to be amongst the last to learn about Banksy’s painting. Indeed, when Anastasis raced over to the King Street address, he was confronted with a large crowd of people, all standing (with mouths agape, some have said) intensely staring at the wall that only days before, the young man had painted solid gray. And more than just neighborhood folk, the crowd contained news crews - tripods, cameras and all!

Expertly painted on that wall was a large, brilliant red heart-shaped balloon with dangling string. Covering the balloon were many pairs of crossed band-aids (or “plasters” as the British call them.) As simple as it was, the work was riveting. Already news of it circumnavigated the social media world. The ever-lively New York Post featured the image on its front page.

Just as Anastasis was getting a grasp on the situation - and well before he could speak with his father about his 20 hour-ago encounter with a world famous artist (in the guise of a van driver), the unthinkable happened. There, in front of this large crowd of onlookers and the media, a man steps forward and - gasp - takes a spray can and sprays paint not only over the red balloon but then - in very large, deep red letters - tags his name. Omar NYC was a fellow graffiti artist - albeit one without a scintilla of fame when compared to Banksy. In an apparent fit of jealously, he wanted to steal the show.

While Omar was caught on camera doing his dirty deed, he then rapidly fled the scene. Which, all things considered, was good for him, given the sudden mood of the crowd which, who knows, might have stomped the jealous street artist into oblivion.

As one might imagine, Banksy’s stunning creation, along with its shocking on-camera defacement, made headline news. Everywhere. In chronological order, Vassillios’ otherwise ordinary small Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC warehouse went from being graffiti-covered (October 1, 2013) to being painted a solid grey (October 2), to becoming the “canvas” for a Banksy masterpiece (October 6), to becoming a defaced Banksy masterpiece (October 7).

But that’s far from all. After the hubbub died down and the crowd dispersed, late that night of October 7, yet another publicity-seeking street artist attacked Banksy’s work. Going by the tag “Shane,” that name - in purple spray paint and roughly twice as large as Omar NYC’s tag - found its way onto the wall. Although little good can be said about Shane’s effort, at least he scrawled his name well beneath Banksy’s balloon, causing that image no further damage.

So there you have it. A potentially important work of art, defaced twice… all within a 24-hour time frame. But wonder of wonders, one more surprising event was to happen.

Despite the fact that the Georgiadis family - sensing that they had a potentially very valuable work of art on their hands (actually, on their wall) - hired guards to protect the site, yet another artist was able to approach and work on what was rapidly becoming a truly remarkable “canvas.” Yup, on the following evening - October 7/8 - another painter approached and clandestinely left his mark. But this time, this was a repeat performance. For who was this fourth artist? None other than the first artist, Banksy himself!

Hearing of the double defacement, Banksy - who was obviously still hanging out in NYC - returned to the scene. And, for the only time he is known to have done this, embellished his own work. Squarely underneath the two tags (Omar NYC and Shane), Banksy carefully stenciled (in stark white serifed lettering) “is a jealous little”. Then, following the word “little” and in pink, childlike larger lettering, wrote the word “girl.” And so, it can be read that Omar NYC and Shane “is a jealous little... girl.”

But that’s not all. Directly beneath the red, heart-shaped balloon, the now legendary Banksy wrote in black all caps “I REMEMBER MY FIRST TAG…” Of particular note is the fact that the word “MY” is written twice as large as rest of the words on that line.

To punctuate what was now a far more complex work of art than when it started, the artist added something he only occasionally includes. Banksy painted his crown-like signature or, if you will, his iconic logo.

And so there you have it. In the days ahead, there were further efforts to deface - indeed to destroy (yes, someone tried to sledgehammer the wall) Banksy’s creation. But thank goodness, these were all thwarted by the guards brought in by the family. (They grow them tough in Red Hook.) In short order, a thick plexiglass protective panel was attached to the wall. But fearing even that was not enough, they added steel with foam insulation to absorb the shock of a sledgehammer, in case of a repeat incident. In time the wall was cut out of the warehouse… totally intact!

Now, to be clear, when we say “cut out,” we would like you to understand that the Georgiadis family likely has given new meaning to that phrase. Because not only did they meticulously excise the section of wall that Banksy chose, but they did it in such a way that their effort might, in and of itself, might be viewed as a “masterpiece.”

For starters, they didn’t just skim off an inch or so of the cement surface of the wall. They took the whole thing! This adds up to about 15 inches of depth. So you have the full, thick concrete outer wall behind which is the century-old brick underlayment. Then, because the wall was indeed pretty old, they infused it (solidified it) with space-age resin. Then, the whole thing was given to a neighboring shop that worked in iron and steel fabrications. There, a true artisan crafted a. a substantial frame encompassing the entire wall, b. an iron grid on the “verso” (the fancy art-world way of referring to the backside of a piece of art), c. iron legs to allow the wall to stand free, and d. a truly massive chain at the top with which, if someone was so inclined, to lift and move the thing.

In all, it weighs in at approximately 7,500 pounds. But once placed, this is solid and strong, and won’t shift. So well crafted is this work of art that it has safely been shipped (for exhibition) thousands of miles. Remarkably, any tiny crack that might be found in it was, in all likelihood, there in the wall long before it beckoned to Banksy.

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On January 16th, 2021, at far too early an age, Vassilios Georgiadis passed away. HIs warehouse is now nothing more than an excavation site. But Koula and Anastasis, his widow and son, are doing a quite remarkable thing. Recognizing that Vassilios died from heart disease, they are putting Banksy’s “BATTLE TO SURVIVE A BROKEN HEART” (yes, that is what the artist has titled the work) up for auction. But they have decided to donate a very substantial portion of the auction proceeds to the American Heart Association, long known for leading the fight to eradicate the very ailments that afflicted Vassilios.

Take it from us, Banksy’s masterpiece is far more stunning in person than any photograph we’ve yet seen. It is large and powerful. It would be a wonderful addition to the collection of any accomplished art enthusiast. It would be stunning in a museum. And what a statement it would make were it positioned in the lobby of a major corporation’s headquarters. In any case, as the work is being prepared for auction, it can be viewed in person in a secure NYC art storage vault, or should one wish, via a live Zoom presentation. To get all the information, please contact us. Thank you.