Mural's 'rude bits' censored with planks of wood

A mural by a celebrated artist has been censored by its owner who has covered up the 'naughty bits' with a plank of wood. Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz painted a couple having sex on the side of a shopping arcade in Plymouth Harbour's Barbican building more than 30 years ago. The unfinished work was created on the concrete but never completed when surrounding businesses got fed up of the scaffolding and the time the work was taking.



A different work by the artist, called The Last Judgement, was painted on wooden boards and fixed over it instead. The mural, which was never seen due to tarpaulin around the wall when it was painted, was revealed for the first time last November when the boards were taken down for preservation. But now the building owner Adele Nash has covered up the 'rude' parts by fixing bits of wood across the painting, which was originally commissioned by her late husband. Adele said "freedom of artist's expression" did not mean the recently-discovered mural was "an appropriate image to have in the public domain".



She added: "We were very surprised to see so little had been accomplished during the six months Robert worked on the scaffold back in 1982. We are also somewhat perplexed at realising this fait accompli did not fall into any category of the commission remit given to Robert." The plank of wood is from the original batons which held The Last Judgment over the mural on the side of independent shopping centre The House That Jack Built. But Rob Ferguson, who owns the nearby Barbican Reach Guest House, said the cover-up was "a clear act of vandalism".



He said: "I can understand that a few people may find part of it offensive; I can also appreciate that a temporary covering could have been put up until a decision is made as to its future. What I am incensed about is that a series of holes have been drilled across the middle of a unique piece of work by one of Plymouth's most renowned artists." London-born Lenkiewicz, who died aged 61 in August 2002, was a celebrated artist in South West England who produced up to 10,000 works. Many were on a large scale and explored difficult social themes such as vagrancy, suicide and mental health.