Banksy's The Little Diver has resurfaced in Melbourne's Cocker Alley.
Banksy created his whimsical stencil on a trip to Melbourne in 2003 - in a small alleyway across from Melbourne East Police Station. In 2008, Melbourne City Council, in response to several taggings of the work, installed a perspex barrier as a protection.
This did not stop the work being vandalised: someone tipped a tray of silver paint behind the barrier, almost completely obliterating the work. They scrawled "Banksy woz here" defiantly in black marker across the silver paint - an accurate if somewhat callous commentary on the ephemeral nature of street art.
Now, Melbourne street artist Phoenix - who works in collage wall applications - has created The Little Diver Resurfaced. Photocopied enlargements taken from a photo of the original work are collaged as an overlay - which reveals the parts of the work submerged below the silver but retaining those parts still visible.
This work can be seen in Cocker Alley - off Flinders lane between Swanston and Degraves St.