TankPetrol’s Burgess

Tucked away in a residential car park on Brightwell Walk just a minute walk from the hustle and bustle of Manchester’s Northern Quarter is a huge portrait of iconic dystopian novelist Anthony Burgess — who was born in Harpurhey, less than half an hour away from the city centre.

TankPetrol’s depiction of Manchester’s own Anthony Burgess.

The greyscale potrait was created by Polish street artist Irek Jasutowicz, who in the art world is known as TankPetrol. Jasutowicz uses multiple techniques to create his pieces; mainly stencil work alongside hand painting. He is based in Manchester after moving to the city in 2006. The art, depicting the Clockwork Orange author was painted in 2016 in a city-wide project Cities of Hope. Typically, Jasutowicz artwork embraces “the diversity of women characters” using moody and dark female portraits.

Jasutowicz’s work can been seen all over the world in a plethora of countries including but not limited to: Iceland, Russia and Malaysia. His canvas work are a part of many private collections around the world.

Northern Quarter is full to the brim with contemporary art, even the car park that houses the TankPetrol portait is host to another imposingly large mural. The mural by Hyuro is named “war impact in children’s lives” and depicts a young blindfolded child with a gun behind their back — behind them a looming shadow of themselves.

TankPetrol’s depiction of Manchester’s own Anthony Burgess among apartment windows.

Included in the portait is an extremely famous Burgess quote: “We can destroy what we have written but we cannot unwrite it.” Although, written in 1961, the quote is entierily relevant now as it was when it was written. Many relate the quote to society’s attitude to social media, including blogger BakerP who said: “There are no do-overs when it comes to what you put out there.” [The Internet.]

TankPetrol has been contacted regarding the artwork but no further comment has been made.