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Kanye meets Kanye: stand-off with singer over mural

Scott Marsh/Instagram/1xRun

Scott Marsh/Instagram/1xRun

Looming six metres above the ground, rapper Kayne West stands impressively in a lover’s embrace — with himself.

Painted against a whitewashed wall, West on the right is wearing in a grey dress decorated with flowers. The other West is sporting a black suit with his mighty hands gripping the other’s buttocks.

The mural may be inconspicuous in the quiet Teggs Lane of Chippendale in Sydney’s inner west, but it has gained notoriety as far as the hills of Hollywood.

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Soon after the mural was painted in early March, artist Scott Marsh was contacted by someone claiming to be from the singer’s management offering him a “pretty decent chunk of money” to paint over the wall.

He responded by asking for a six-figure payment and a lifetime supply of West’s signature Yeezy Boost sneakers.

On Tuesday, Marsh also released a one-off print edition of the mural – albeit modified.

“I’m offering an oversized print which has been painted over for $US100,000,” Marsh told 702 ABC Sydney.

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye.

“It’s an open invitation to Kanye. If he buys that print then I’ll paint over the mural.”

Marsh has given West just under two weeks to buy the print from online art store 1xRun.

His mural is an interpretation of an internet meme that circulated after West and wife Kim Kardashian were photographed kissing on the red carpet.

While Kardashian was replaced in this artwork to “reflect the love Kanye West has for himself”, she has by no means been forgotten by the street art community.

Just metres down the wall is a large mural of the celebrity in the nude, painted by street artist lushsux.

The artwork however may be short lived after the City of Sydney Council ordered the owner of the adjoining bar to remove it following a complaint from a neighbour.

A council spokeswoman told The Guardian that the mural was “not preapproved”.

According to Marsh, there is a jagged line between what some consider graffiti and vandalism and what others call art.

“Me, personally, I love graffiti, I love it all,” he said.

“The thing I like about it is that it’s unsanctioned.

“It’s probably one of the last pieces of free media and I think that’s the whole point of it.

“Whether you like it or not, it’s art. So some people like it, some people don’t. It’s all open to interpretation.”

-ABC

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