Graffiti News

A restaurant redesign has displaced a Manchester mural

A Manchester mural commissioned for a restaurant is looking for somewhere to be seen again. In her 29 September 2026 report for the Manchester Evening News, Dianne Bourne describes a five-metre-wide painted canvas by Manchester artist Michael J Browne that has been removed from Gusto Italian on Lloyd Street, in Manchester city centre.

The restaurant has been redesigned and renamed Gigi, and the new interior has no place for the work. At the time of the report, the canvas was in storage. That makes its former restaurant address part of the painting's history, rather than a destination where readers can expect to find it on display.

A donation would come with a public purpose

The owner is prepared to donate the painting to an organisation in Greater Manchester that can display it permanently to the public, according to the newspaper. A private sale would also be considered. The report gives a rough estimated value of £15,000; that estimate should be read separately from the proposed donation.

Browne says restaurateur Jamie Barber asked him to help find a Manchester home and offered a free donation to an establishment connected with the council or a government office. The practical question is therefore more specific than who might want a large painting: who can accommodate it while keeping it available to viewers?

Familiar faces share the canvas with the city

The painting brings musicians, scientists, architecture and football references into a single imagined Manchester scene. Created in the mid-2010s for Gusto, it includes Oasis musician Noel Gallagher and Bee Gees musician Barry Gibb alongside Alan Turing, Emmeline Pankhurst and John Dalton. Manchester Central Library, the Manchester Ship Canal and Old Trafford also appear.

There are references to both Manchester City and Manchester United, as well as the Rovers Return pub and the cobbled setting of Coronation Street. For someone following murals through their local subjects, this offers several ways into the same work. A recognised face can be the starting point, with buildings and smaller references rewarding a slower look.

The costumes invite a closer look

The contrast between historical dress and familiar music imagery is a useful place to begin looking. The newspaper describes a Renaissance-style composition that mixes realistic and surreal elements, with Gallagher and Gibb appearing in classical clothing. Their outfits also carry details that bring the scene closer to their musical identities.

Gibb's orange robe has a 1970s flavour, while Gallagher's upper garment resembles a parka and he carries a Union Jack guitar. Looking for those shifts is more revealing than treating every figure as a straightforward portrait. The clothing lets different periods sit together, much as the canvas brings different parts of Manchester's identity into one setting.

Readers helped give the work its name

The title, “Manchester's own Northern Lights”, came from Manchester Evening News reader Denise Donovan through a newspaper competition. Browne painted the winning words above the image of Manchester Central Library. The newspaper also reports that Sir Richard Leese, then council leader, officially unveiled the work inside the restaurant.

That naming history adds another detail to seek out if the painting returns to view. The lettering is part of the image itself, not simply a title attached outside it. It also gives the appeal for public display a particular resonance: a reader contributed words that became a permanent feature of the commissioned canvas.

Finding space has proved difficult

The approaches described by Browne had not produced a new home when the report appeared. He said Manchester Central Library lacked the space. Town Hall representatives could not consider it yet and warned that taking ownership could leave the painting in storage for too long.

Browne also reported a museum refusal because the mixture of scientists and other famous people did not fit its remit. He had considered the entrance to the G-Mex conference centre but had not found the appropriate contact. These accounts show why identifying an apparently suitable building is only a starting point: available space and a workable institutional fit both matter.

A new address would restore the chance to see it

For mural followers, the central issue is continued access. This canvas survived the restaurant redesign as an object, but storage interrupted its life as something people could encounter. The case illustrates how a business commission can lose its display setting when a venue changes identity, even while the artwork remains intact.

A permanent public home would give viewers another opportunity to connect the portraits, costumes and city references. For now, the September report places the work in storage and describes an unresolved search. Organisations able to help can find contact details in Dianne Bourne's report for the Manchester Evening News.