The Bristolian, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret, painted an image of a young boy drawing a robot on the side of the Grosvenor Hotel at Belgrave Road.
The 8ft-high piece of artwork was discovered by hotel manager Joleen Layman on October 4. She said: "It appeared overnight. I drove into work on the Monday and I thought, 'what's that'? I paid a bit more attention to it and saw it was really good quality.
"My other half is from Bristol, so I have heard of Banksy, but I'm not that familiar with his work. The chefs and other people who work at the hotel were wondering if it was him."
Joleen said the hotel owners had been planning to paint the wall at the side of the hotel which needed some "tender loving care".
But she stressed that the new artwork was there to stay and would be carefully preserved.
"We are going to board it up to protect it, and then get Perspex put over it next week so that people can see it.
"It's caused quite a stir already."
Banksy fan and active forum member Irene Hall, from Torquay, visited the hotel and confirmed that the image is the real deal.
She explained: "He doesn't verbally confirm it, but he puts photographs of the images on the official website and the one from the Grosvenor is on there. It's absolutely beautiful."
The image appeared after the Street Art Jam session which took place at Paignton's Lighthouse Music Hub.
Irene said rumours were circulating at the time about Banksy's attendance at the event, which celebrates international graffiti and music stars.
Mark Wilkins, chairman of the Devon Music Collective, confirmed that there were rumours of Banksy being at the art jam event.
He said: "We didn't know he was there but we had a suspicion he might be because a couple of guys from a crew in Birmingham said he was, although they wouldn't say who he was.
"I think his artwork is great for Torbay. I'm very pleased for the Grosvenor Hotel. It's probably increased the value of their hotel by about £150,000."
Banksy hit international headlines last week when he designed a special introduction for The Simpsons.
Although Banksy has offered no verbal verification that the image is his, the photograph can be seen on his website at www.banksy.co.uk
The people actually liked and admired Banksy's art and it also helped them with their business since they got free publicity.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty fascinating how Banksy inclines to be this mysterious, unknown character. Yet, it is this anonymous behavior of his, that makes him consipicious and well-known.
ReplyDeleteThe hotel owner is definitly an ingenious person, to not remove the image from her building because it has lucractive benefits.
I absolutely love Banksy's work; controversial, yet so meaningful, and causes one to recognize the essential matters around us. With this specific piece, a distinctive idea is hard to define, however he paints this furtive artist, which intertwines with how he is.
What do you guys think, what is the underlying meaning of this painting? (That means if, it does actually have one...)
ReplyDeleteIt's strange how Banksy's work on a building can increase it's value but It doesn't seem like he gets anything out of it other than the notoriety. do you think this piece has any meaning?
ReplyDelete