Banksy has offered to raise £10million to buy the prison which once held Oscar Wilde and was adorned with artwork by the street artist earlier this year.
HMP Reading had been planned by developers to become flats, however plans fell apart due to heritage issues. This site was disused since 2013.
As a result, the prison went back on the market for £10million and Banksy has offered to raise the funds by selling the stencil he used to paint a mural on the wall of the Grade II listed building in March this year.
The stencil has an estimated value of between £10million and £15million and will be sold privately and not at auction.
It is understood the offer is contingent on the site being used as an arts complex, in line with a £2.6million bid made by Reading Borough Council last year which was rejected by the Ministry of Justice.
Bristol based artist Banksy has offered to raise £10million to buy Reading Prison which once held Oscar Wilde and was adorned with artwork by the street artist earlier this year (pictured)
Banksy told the Sunday Times that until he rode a replacement rail bus which went by the jail, he didn’t have much interest in Reading.
“It is rare to see a 500-m-long, paintable surface in the middle of any town. I literally crawled over the person next me to have a better look.
“I had promised myself that I would paint the wall before I even knew what it was. It’s something I am passionate about now.
“Oscar Wilde” is the patron saint that brings together two opposing ideas in order to create magic. It feels perfect to transform the space that had destroyed Wilde into an art refuge.
Banksy has only sold one stencil before, making it his rarest art form, while the record for a Banksy work stands at £18.5million.
Love is in Bin was the October record at Sotheby’s. This is the remaining piece of an item that was partly shredded in an auction in 2018.
Banksy says he will fund the purchase by selling the stencil he used to paint ‘Create Escape’ on the prison wall earlier this year (pictured) which has an estimated value of up to £15million
Reading Borough Council had made a bid for the purchase of the prison in order to transform it into an arts facility. The bid was turned down by the Ministry of Justice, and it returned to the marketplace.
It was originally built in 1844. The council has long advocated that the site be made into an arts centre to celebrate its rich heritage.
Reading Prison, which Oscar Wilde spent two years in hard labor for “gross Indecency” between 1895 and 1897 is well-known. It is also the setting of the poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”.
Banksy painted his piece ‘Create Escape’ earlier in the year on the prison’s wall. It is thought that this was a reference to Wilde’s time there.
This artwork was on the old Reading Prison’s red brick wall and showed an inmate trying to escape lockdown with a tied spool paper made from a typewriter.
It was first seen on March 1. Officially confirmed to be a Banksy by the artist on March 4. The elusive artist shared a video via his Instagram account.
The video will archive comments from an episode The Joy Of Painting With Bob Ross.
Banksy can be seen climbing up a ladder to pick out spray bottles in the dark.
Banksy creates a stencil to be used for the piece, which is then sold. He sprays the paint onto the Reading Prison wall.
Despite the fact that the prison was closed to inmates in 2013, the future of the facility has been the subject of intense debate.
Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet, Sir Kenneth Branagh and Natalie Dormer have all supported the campaign for the transformation of the site to an arts center.
Another notable ex-inmate is Anthony Joshua, a heavyweight boxer. He was released as a teenager. Amelia Dyer was also a Victorian serial killer who was believed to have killed up to 400 children.
Built on the spot of the medieval Reading Abbey monastery, which was founded by Henry I (son of William the Conqueror), the jail was constructed.
Henry, who is thought to have been laid to rest under an altar now believes he was under prison walls or car parks.
Matt Rodda (Labour MP for Reading East) stated that the idea of using prisons to house art has been proven by previous exhibitions. He planned to ask urgent questions in Parliament this week, to get ministers “on the spot” with his offer.
He said, “There are amazing layers of history. There’s literary history, LGBT community history and the connection to Oscar Wilde. You can also find some Victorian social history from the local area and the Royal Family in the same building. The entire country is connected.
“It is absolutely right that the building is kept and used constructively, rather than just being razed or turned into flats.
Jason Brock of Reading Borough Council said, “We are very pleased that Banksy’s interest in Reading Gaol has put on both the MoJ’s sale of the vacant prison by the Ministry of Justice and the council’s desire to turn it into a hub of arts and heritage, culture of local, national, and international significance.
“The Council has received only informal communications from Banksy representatives to date. However, there have been no formal discussions.
“Our bid is still on the table. It has broad support from both the Reading community and the wider arts and heritage community. They all recognize the immense historical and cultural significance of the prison.
MoJ stated that the deadline to submit bids had passed. They are now reviewing all of them.