A festive mural compared to 'Lovecraftian horror' has been taken down from the side of a London riverside hotspot following grossly negative reaction from locals.
The Christmas-themed giant wall art depicting a festive scene on an icy Thames was put up at Riverside Walk, a trendy spot in Kingston upon Thames in west London home to cosy chain restaurants like Bill's and Côte Brasserie.
But there was nothing cosy about the nightmarish artwork which featured malformed snowmen and a dog transmogrified into a chicken in scenes straight out of John Carpenter's classic horror movie, The Thing.
The faces of the people skating in what was ostensibly a scene of nostalgic joy were also twisted into horrifying, tortured smiles.
It was, as noted by several locals, disturbing and uncomfortable to view - and has now become such a distraction that the landowners have taken it down.
Reports suggest the local council had asked the landlords to take the artwork down amid concerns its meaning was being misinterpreted.
The development's owners - a private investment firm - are said to have insisted the scene was inspired by 16th century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Bruegel was renowned for his genre paintings that shows large, busy and sometimes surreal scenes. Perhaps appropriately, among the names for such works were 'The Triumph of Death' and 'Massacre of the Innocents'.
A horrifying mural compared to the works of HP Lovecraft has been taken down from a trendy riverside spot in west London.
The mural in situ prior to being removed after being widely derided by locals and online.
The work, on Riverside Walk in Kingston Upon Thames, featured people with distorted faces and biological nightmares straight out of a John Carpenter film.
Others compared it unfavourably to paintings by surrealist painter Hieronymus Bosch - or interpreted it as political commentary on migrants crossing the English Channel.
Many people in the scene are in small wooden rowboats, wearing Christmas hats on their melted, terrifying faces. Some of those in the boats also appear to be wearing headscarves.
'I am going to be completely honest,' wrote one local on Reddit. 'I thought it was a banner about displaced people.'
'Displaced people and dog parts,' replied another.
Whether any of this was deliberate is another matter.
The work's bizarre maladies bore all the hallmarks of AI-generated art which, despite all of its advancements in recent years, has struggled to cope with finer details.
While the use of AI has not been confirmed, the presence of several bleary-eyed Santas, a boat oar made out of dog paws and revellers resembling Spitting Image puppets would suggest it has played a part in the mural's production.
The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, however, was unequivocal in telling the Daily Mail that it had nothing to do with the eye-catching stunt.
A spokesperson told the Mail: 'Kingston Council has had no involvement in the planning or funding of the display. The landowner has now removed the installation.'
Exactly how the work came to be remains a mystery.
Riverside Walk and the adjoining Bishop's Palace House were rejuvenated a decade ago after being purchased by Canadian and Portland, a private investment firm in 2005. It was most recently valued at £30.8million in 2016.
Among the terrifying features were dogs with birds' faces and a multitude of bleary-eyed Santa Clauses.
Artist Mat Collishaw, who specialises in AI, has previously had a mural displayed above the centre.
Observers have speculated that the work might have had a political meaning, with people depicted in boats on the Thames.
Other nightmarish features included dogs that turned into chickens - and one particularly warped and distended snowman.
Some of the horrors in the AI generated image are too abstract, and horrifying, to describe.
From far away, the mural could almost be mistaken for a jubilant festive scene. On closer inspection, the horrors emerge.
It did not respond to the Mail's requests for comment at the time of publication.
Newsletter London Centric has claimed that the artist behind the mural is Mat Collishaw. He did not respond to the Mail's multiple requests for a comment.
The Mail has learned that Collishaw's work was previously exhibited in the same space above the restaurants in Kingston earlier this year, depicting what appeared to be AI generated insects and seafood.
A manager at Côte told Metro that it had been met with similar derision: 'They put an AI generated mural up in the summer as well with distorted seafood which also was controversial. Everyone has their own ideas, I guess.'
'There have been lots of shoppers stopping to see it but there has been a lot of complaints.'
Collishaw, 59, was part of the Young British Artists movement of the 1980s that birthed the likes of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin - renowned for collectively thumbing their nose at conventional art.
His Instagram page is full of experiments in AI-generated art, which he has also recently exhibited in London and Madrid.
A Guardian review of a 2023 Kew Gardens exhibition noted: 'Collishaw shows that in the age of AI and virtual reality we can make our own nature, giving movement to painted flowers, inventing paradise islands. Yet none of it is alive.'
Prior to it being unceremoniously pulled down, social media users had sent up the artwork in their droves.
The huge artwork spanned several restaurants on Riverside Walk in Kingston, which is owned by a private investment firm.
As well as featuring distended people with melted faces, the mural has oddities - such as what appears to be a floating ginger wig in the water.
A not-so-jolly Saint Nick - one of several dotted around the mural, which has now been taken down.
'The entire thing is horrendous,' wrote one, while another added: 'I'm equal parts delighted and horrified.'
'It beggars belief that if you're going to use AI you wouldn't even take a fraction of the time you've allegedly saved in producing whatever this is to at least check it a bit,' said a third.