Manchester Paul O’Grady mural defaced days after being created

A mural in South Manchester depicting Paul O’Grady has been defaced just days after being created.

The mural appeared on the Fallowfield Loop, under Kingsway, early last week after the announcement that the much loved comedian had died ‘unexpectedly but peacefully’ at the age of 67, on Tuesday March 28th.

Featuring O’Grady’s portrait next to a dog alongside the caption ‘For Paul’, the original artwork was created by artist Manchester Murals, who described it earlier this week as a way of recognising the ‘well-grounded entertainment machine that spanned generations’.

The caption next to the image on the Manchester Murals Facebook page reads: “A mural celebrating the life of Paul O’Grady.

“Paul always seemed like a well-grounded entertainment machine that spanned generations, was one of the nation’s favourite drag artists and through his love for animals, he was an ambassador for Battersea, where he helped raise their profile. Only felt right to include a dog in his mural. Thanks for everything, Paul! Rest well.”

The witty showbiz star who touched the hearts of the nation was known for his love of animals and hosted the popular ITV show For the Love of Dogs. On Sunday April 2nd, people visiting the mural to pay their respects to him discovered the portrait of O’Grady and the dog had unfortunately been defaced.

Speaking to The Manchester Evening News, Artist Chris Moore, aka Manchester Murals, said: “I did this work out of a passion for my art and out of respect for Paul O’Grady who meant so much to people and animals throughout his life. I was instantly driven to create a fitting mural in his honour, and I felt it was only natural to include a dog in that.”

Chris, who said he spent a couple of days working on the project, said he was ‘disappointed’ to learn that his artwork had been vandalised but understood that it’s one of the realities that comes with street art, saying: “It would have been nice for it to last longer. I only finished it on Thursday so it’s not even been three days since it was created.

“I can kind of understand people’s disappointment in that the mural has only lasted as long as it has, especially given how recent his passing was, but, ultimately and unfortunately, this is part of the nature of the street art and mural scene.”

Chris said he has ‘not ruled out’ the possibility of repairing the artwork, but explained he, ultimately, would prefer to now re-home the design altogether. He continued: “I guess, ideally, it’d be nice for it to be rehoused now. It would be great to do it at Battersea Dogs Home so it could live on permanently as a fitting home.”

Since unveiling the artwork on Thursday, Chris, who has also previously created artwork featuring the likes of footballer Phil Foden, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and chef Phil Rosenthal, said he has been inundated with positive messages about the mural this week.

He added: “I’ve spent my adult life in Manchester, I feel an affinity to the city. I’ve been painting professionally for over two years and I’m just trying to build the business and my portfolio to try and turn my passion into a full-time career.

“The response has been overwhelming, I’ve had loads of messages from people asking where it was located as they wanted to visit it with their dogs. I’m really happy that people were able to enjoy it.”