Category Archives: Banksy

Legal row could finally force mystery artist Banksy to reveal his real name

Posted on by

Two art collectors are taking legal action against artist over his ‘refusal’ to confirm the authenticity of one of his famous images

His identity has long been a matter of speculation and investigation, but Banksy may be forced to reveal his real name if a dispute over a print of the late Queen Elizabeth depicted as a bejewelled primate ends up in court.

Two art collectors are taking legal action against the graffiti artist’s company, Pest Control, following its apparent refusal to confirm the authenticity of Monkey Queen. After three years of trying to get an answer, Nicky Katz and Ray Howse have lost patience and are suing Pest Control for breach of contract.

Continue reading...

Spanish police say they have smashed Banksy fakes syndicate

Posted on by

Officers arrest two people in Zaragoza, where forgeries were allegedly made, and two others suspected of putting works on sale

Police in Catalonia have claimed to have smashed a ring of scammers who allegedly forged works by street artist Banksy and sold them across Europe and the US for up to €1,500 (£1,280) apiece.

Officers arrested two people in the north-eastern Spanish city of Zaragoza where the fakes were allegedly made and two others suspected of having put the works on sale, Catalonia’s regional police force said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Banksy pays tribute to late comedian who trained Dismaland staff

Posted on by

Artist says Tony Allen’s surly stewards ended up as the most talked about part of his 2015 ‘bemusement park’

Banksy has paid tribute to a late comedian who trained 100 teenagers to be “the most surly and incompetent employees in the history of hospitality” for his 2015 Dismaland exhibition.

In a rare step, the reclusive graffiti artist has written a piece recalling his time with the comedian Tony Allen, which was read on BBC Radio 4’s obituary programme, Last Word, on Friday.

Continue reading...

Banksy artwork stolen less than an hour after unveiling in south London

Posted on by

Piece showing three aircraft on stop sign in Peckham was confirmed as genuine by the artist on Instagram

Two men have been filmed taking an artwork created by Banksy from a south London street less than an hour after it was confirmed as a genuine installation.

The artist confirmed the piece – a traffic stop sign covered with three aircraft said to resemble military drones – was his in a social media post shortly after midday on Friday.

Continue reading...

Banksy reveals his first name in resurfaced interview clip

Posted on by

As a 2003 recording appearing to reveal his famously well-concealed identity comes to light, a lawsuit threatens to make it fully public

A lost interview with the street artist Banksy, which contains the only known instance of him revealing his first name, has been unearthed.

The 2003 recording features an interview with a BBC reporter who asks if Banksy’s real name is “Robert Banks”, to which the artist replies “It’s Robbie”.

Continue reading...

Banksy show officially authorised by elusive street artist to open in Glasgow

Posted on by

Show at Gallery of Modern Art inspired by city’s Duke of Wellington statue with traffic cone on its head, says artist

An exhibition of work by Banksy is to open in Glasgow this weekend. The solo, show Cut & Run, taking place at the city’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), has been officially authorised by the elusive street artist.

It spans 25 years and will feature many of the stencils he has used to create his work. Banksy told the Herald: “I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage.

Continue reading...

Italian authorities detain Banksy-funded migrant rescue boat

Posted on by

Yacht impounded over alleged breach of far-right government’s new rules for rescue vessels

Italian authorities have detained a migrant rescue boat financed by the British street artist Banksy after it responded to a distress call in the central Mediterranean.

The vessel, painted in bright pink and named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, was impounded in the port of Lampedusa on Sunday in relation to an alleged breach of new Italian rules for rescue boats operated by non-governmental organisations.

Continue reading...

New Banksy mural on derelict farmhouse in Kent is demolished

Posted on by

Morning is Broken appeared on a wall of a building on Blacksole Farm, Herne Bay, since destroyed

Banksy’s latest work, on the side of a derelict farmhouse in the seaside town of Herne Bay in Kent, has been demolished.

The mural, titled Morning is Broken, depicted a silhouetted young boy next to a cat in a window, opening corrugated iron curtains.

Continue reading...

Ukraine authorities detain eight people over theft of Banksy mural outside Kyiv

Posted on by

Stencil image, which shows figure in nightgown and gas mask holding a fire extinguisher, was removed in Hostomel on Friday

Eight people have been detained over the theft of a mural painted by the elusive British street artist Banksy from a wall on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.

The stencil image of a person in a nightgown and gas mask holding a fire extinguisher, next to the charred remains of a window in the town of Hostomel, went missing on Friday, they said.

Continue reading...

People try to steal Banksy mural in Ukraine

Posted on by

Police make arrests and secure image of gas-masked woman in dressing gown sprayed on Hostomel wall

A group of people have tried to take a mural in Ukraine by the graffiti artist Banksy, by cutting away a section of war-damaged wall where it was sprayed.

The group managed to slice off a section of board and plaster bearing the image of a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher on the side of a scorched building.

Continue reading...

Banksy artwork appears on damaged building in Ukraine

Posted on by

Graffiti artist appears to confirm presence in war-torn country after unveiling latest work on Instagram

Banksy appears to have confirmed he is in Ukraine after revealing his latest artwork on Instagram.

Speculation had been mounting that the anonymous graffiti artist was in the war-torn country after a series of murals appeared in the town of Borodianka, near Kyiv.

Continue reading...

Eight convicted over theft of Banksy artwork from Paris attack site

Posted on by

Work paying homage to victims of 2015 attack – painted on door at Bataclan concert hall – was stolen in 2019

A French court has convicted eight men for the theft and handling of a Banksy painting paying homage to the victims of the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

Three men in their 30s who admitted to the 2019 theft were given prison sentences, one of four years and two of three, although they will be able to serve them wearing electronic tracking bracelets rather than behind bars.

Continue reading...

Thieves stole Banksy Bataclan door mural with crowbar, French court told

Posted on by

Seven Frenchmen and Italian on trial for theft of work thought to be a tribute to victims of Paris attacks

Thieves who stole a mural by the street artist Banksy on an emergency exit door of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris used a crowbar and angle grinder to prise it free, in a crime that lasted just minutes, a French court heard.

The work depicting a veiled and mournful figure is thought to have been a tribute to victims of the Islamist militant attacks against the Bataclan and other entertainment venues in Paris in 2015.

Continue reading...

Port Talbot says bye-bye to its Banksy as art dealer brings in a crane

Posted on by

Much loved work that appeared in 2018 on a steelworker’s garage heads to England on the back of a lorry

It appeared one winter’s night on a steelworker’s garage, a wondrous piece of street art making points about the innocence of childhood, industrial decay and air pollution.

After a three-year sojourn in the town of Port Talbot, Season’s Greetings, Wales’ first and only Banksy, was craned on to the back of a flatbed lorry and trucked out of the country.

Continue reading...

Banksy designs T-shirts to raise funds for ‘Colston Four’ accused of Bristol statue damage

Posted on by

Anonymous artist says sales proceeds will go to the four people accused of Edward Colston statue damage ‘so they can go for a pint’

Banksy says he has made T-shirts that he will be selling to support four people facing trial accused of criminal damage over the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

The anonymous artist posted on Instagram pictures of limited-edition grey souvenir T-shirts, which will go on sale on Saturday in Bristol.

Continue reading...

Banksy offers to raise £10m to buy Reading prison for art centre

Posted on by

Artist would sell stencil used to paint mural depicting what was thought to be Oscar Wilde on listed building

Banksy has offered to raise millions of pounds towards buying Reading prison, where Oscar Wilde was once held, so that it can be turned into an arts centre.

The street artist has promised to match the jail’s £10m asking price by selling the stencil he used to paint on the Grade II-listed building in March, a move campaigners hope will prevent it from being sold to housing developers.

Continue reading...

Banksy artwork deliberately destroyed by Christopher Walken in BBC comedy show finale

Posted on by

Hollywood actor paints over original work, which was created for Stephen Merchant’s TV series The Outlaws

A piece of art created by Banksy was painted over by Hollywood actor Christopher Walken in the final episode of BBC series The Outlaws.

The six-part comedy-drama, which Stephen Merchant co-created with US writer and producer Elgin James, and also directed, follows a group of misfits renovating a derelict community centre in Bristol, as part of community service for crimes they have committed.

Continue reading...

Banksy confirms he is behind British seaside ‘spraycation’ artworks

Posted on by

Anonymous artist posts Instagram video charting his coastal tour in an ageing camper van

Banksy has confirmed that he is indeed the author of a number of works that have appeared recently in seaside towns on the UK east coast.

An Instagram video clip, just over three minutes long called “A Great British Spraycation”, shows the elusive artist taking a summer road trip in a beaten-up camper van with cans of spray paint stashed inside a cooler.

Continue reading...

Banksy’s NHS Covid superhero nurse gift sold for record £16.7m

Posted on by

‘Game Changer’ was a work the artist made as a thank you to England’s health workers amid the pandemic

A Banksy painting of a young boy ditching his Batman and Spider-Man action figures for one of a caped superhero nurse has sold for a world record price of £16.7m, the money going to UK health charities.

The artist made the work as a thank you to the NHS, delivering it out of the blue to Southampton general hospital last May.

Continue reading...