A graffiti artist is enraged that a mural he created in honor of Shane Warne, the late cricketing legend, has landed him in court.
In March, Warne died of a heart attack while on vacation in Koh Samui, Thailand, shocking the country and the athletic world. He was 52 years old.
Jarrod Grech has taken to TikTok to express his dissatisfaction with his future criminal damage case, calling it a “waste of police and court time.”
Grech painted the picture of the legend on the exterior of a home in the Melbourne neighborhood of Carlton, at 40 Canning Street.
The prolific street artist is encouraged by the outpouring of support for his work in the comments section of his TikTok video, with one person calling the allegations against him “un-Australian.”
‘Australia lost a legend!’ Grech stated when he first painted the mural.
‘In this portrait I tried to capture Shane’s charisma and fun nature. One of my fondest memories is playing cricket in primary school trying to bowl like Shane and Brett Lee. I hope I did your porcelain veneers proud brother. See you in the next life.’
Grech said in April that he had painted the same wall several times without knowing who lived in the adjacent house.
He told 3AW that the windows were boarded up.
He added, ‘Usually I find the owner’s details and I ask them for permission, and then usually if they don’t like it I just spray it back.”
Grech also acknowledged that legally, he ‘didn’t have a leg to stand on.’
‘I’ll be getting permission from now on,’ he said.
Many of his supporters have frowned at the charges.
‘I think your tribute is awesome! Beautifully done!” said one supporter of Grech’s work.
‘Amazing tribute mate! Art is not a crime,’ ‘nice piece’ and ‘Bloody awesome – should be more of yours and less of the scribble that’s around,’ commented others.
Some people agreed with his assessment that the summons is a “waste of police and court time.”
‘It’s art… the stupid laws need reviewed – art shouldn’t be criminal damage,’ one of them explained.
Another user said that the police ‘should be arrested,’ which was backed up by a comment that read, ‘Exactly right. Completely un-Australian.’
Others, on the other hand, were critical of the location Grech’s mural.
Someone said, ‘Unless you have the owner’s permission, you can’t just go around painting on walls. regardless of the tribute aspect’.
He was asked by another: ‘Did you have permission to spray there?’
The artist responded that ‘The house is abandoned, covered in graffiti.’
Another commenter responded by saying, ‘So you illegally defaced private property.’
Grech’s response to this question with ‘Correct’ may not have benefited his legal case.
He might be better off simply writing on his TikTok account, ‘Love you Shane,’ to explain his intention for the artwork.