BANKSY ART RETRIEVED IN BERLIN ART GALLERY

The artwork was excavated as part of an art project by Brad Downey

A Banksy artwork has been retrieved, seven years after it was first created, a Berlin gallery has announced.

Every Picture Tells A Lie was originally sprayed during a street art project at the Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien in 2003.

But the work was eventually obscured by subsequent art shows.

Restorers scraped away more than a dozen layers of paint to unearth the original artwork, which will be on display until 22 October.

The artwork was excavated as part of an art project by Brad Downey, whose exhibition is titled What Lies Beneath and focuses on layers of paint.

“The unearthing is Downey's project, he wanted to play with it,” Stephane Bauer, head of the Kunstraum Bethanien gallery, told Reuters news agency.

Downey took part in the original 2003 exhibit with Banksy and remembered the work, which is why he wanted to recover the piece.

Banksy's gorilla in a pink mask painting was partially restored recently

The gallery said it is unsure what will happen to the Banksy work once the exhibition comes to an end.

Contemporary art specialist Gareth Williams works at Bonhams auction house in London.

He said it might be possible to sell the piece, providing authentication can be provided.

In July, one of Banksy's most famous early works was partially restored in the artist's home city.

The stencil of a gorilla in a pink mask had been on the wall of a building in Bristol, until the new owner – who had never heard of the artist – had it whitewashed.

The graffiti artist's work is often defaced or damaged as it is usually painted onto a public space.

His other famous pieces include a life-size replica of a Guantanamo Bay detainee at Disneyland in California and decorating Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side.