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Artists Upset Controversial Allston Mural Was Removed

BOSTON (CBS) - Art is supposed to make you think.

But what happens when you think it's inappropriate?

Well, in the course of 72 hours, a mural went up in Boston, got changed and then got wiped clean.

There is nothing to see these days at the corner of Cambridge and Linden streets in Allston.

mural
The corner of Cambridge and Linden streets in Allston.(WBZ-TV)

 

You could say it's the corner of boring and uneventful.

And that is the story.

"People had something to look at and now all they have is this gray blotch," Jeh Beasly told WBZ-TV.

Beasly is the co-founder of Avenue of Arts, a collective of local artists who paint murals on walls around the city with permission.

Three days ago one of it's artists painted a mural of a woman suggestively petting a cat on her lap.

allston mural
(Image credit: Jeh Beasly)

"Everyone was like honking and telling us how dope the wall was, how great it looked. Nobody complained face-to-face with us."

But 13 people complained to the city's 311 non-emergency complaint line.

Some called the painting demeaning.

"It was the female and the cat but it wasn't his original intention to come out here and blast women or demoralize women," Beasly said.

The artist quickly replaced cat woman with a painting of a gorilla.

allston mural
(Image credit: Jeh Beasly)

"It was Koko the gorilla. It's one of his characters," Beasly said.

That mural didn't last long.

Within hours, the city or the property owner had it wiped clean.

"If they want us to come back and paint it again and do something that the whole community wants to get involved in or something, we're always down to do it too," another artist told WBZ.

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