If you can't beat them, join them! Worker sent to remove graffiti finds image of himself sprayed onto same wall hours later

Original work by stencil artist DS was removed within hours

Graffiti artist decided to turn image of clean up into his next work

Image of worker painting over graffiti is now painted onto wall in Essex Road, London



Sent to clear up some unwanted graffiti, this workerman couldn't have imagined he would be the inspiration for the next work on the very same wall.



But this is the moment an artist decided to turn an image of the man sent to remove his artwork into art.

Stencil artist - who is known only as ‘DS’ - created his first piece ‘Bad Kitty’ on a wall in London as an amusing comment on the ‘squeaky clean image’ of the Hello Kitty character.

DS, who is 28, and from London, created his artwork in May but eight hours later he was surprised to see someone already in the process of removing it.

Clear up: The unnamed workerman started removing the graffiti - unaware he has become a model for the next artwork to appear on the same wall

Deciding to document the act of erasing his work, DS took photos of the moment and then used one to show the man that removed it.

Amazingly the artwork featuring the mystery man has not been removed and is still on the wall in Essex Road, Islington, today.

DS said: 'I did the first piece ‘Bad Kitty’ late last year with the second May this year.

'The first piece isn’t my style but I have a bit of a dislike of Hello Kittys squeaky clean image so I wanted to use her and Miffy.

Centre of attention: A stenciled representation of the workerman, pictured removing the Hello Kitty work, left, is now featured on the same wall, right, which he was sent to clean up

Exhibition: The new work is becoming a local fixture having been left on the wall of the shop on Essex Road, Islington

'My reaction to it being removed was a little different than normally.



Knowing a piece as been removed or painted over doesn’t bother me, it’s the name of the game in graffiti but this time was a little different as it only lasted eight hours.

In action: Stencil artist - who is known only as DS - decided to make the removal of his first piece of graffiti the basis for his second work

'So you can imagine my frustration when coming back I found the council (or private company I’m not sure) starting the process of erasing it from the wall - which I documented.

'Looking through the images I took I saw a great one of the removals man so I wanted to put him up in the same space.

'Having known they were mighty quick to respond to graffiti there I was up early the next day in hope to get a photo of him, removing a stencil of him, removing a stencil.

'I thought it would rip a hole in the space-time continuum or something. He came when I was across the road having breakfast, after a while and having his photo taken next to it lots of times he left it.'

DS said it was a strange time for street art at the moment.

He said: 'Banksy does a piece and it gets protected by the council with perspex and another piece from a just as edgy artist with better technical skills gets taken down.

'I don’t think the council should decide on the legitimacy or worthiness of a piece but rather let graffiti run it’s natural course even if that means great art being painted over - another one will takes its place.

Islington Council said it was not aware of the graffiti and that it was not one of their employees who had removed the work from the wall.