Melbourne artist charged over Shane Warne memorial
A Melbourne street artist has been charged over painting a mural of the late cricket legend Shane Warne on the side of an empty house.
Jarrod Grech spent over 30 hours painting the mural after Warne’s sudden death in March in an attempt to lift community spirit.
The artist had done a number of paintings on the same wall of an empty house in Carlton over the past three years, as had many other street artists in the area.
Despite the mural being appreciated by locals, Grech has now been charged by police with “intentionally and without lawful excuse” damaging property by not obtaining the homeowner’s permission.
Grech said he painted the mural purely as a sign of respect to Shane Warne and his family.
“This is my way of expressing loss,” he told 7News.
Even Warne’s daughter Summer expressed her love and admiration of the mural as she posted it on Instagram
“Looks unreal, did a bloody great job,” she wrote.
“He would love it too.”
After seeing Summer’s reaction, Grech said having her approval of his art meant the world to him.
“It makes me feel a lot better about the charges, like it makes it feel like it’s worth doing to make them happy,” he said.
Street art advocate Dean Sunshine, whose own factory acts as an outdoor gallery for artists, said the charges against Grech are hypocritical.
“We live in Melbourne which prides itself on a huge street art scene, and people are doing murals all over town so I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Image credits: Instagram