Has Banksy struck again? Street artist may be behind new mural that has appeared on same Southampton wall where his previous work was vandalised
- The mural in Southampton is similar to Banksy’s famous Balloon Girl stencil
- Banksy-style image of a girl has appeared underneath ‘our future’ slogan
- The same figure appeared on the wall before with the slogan ‘no future’
- But it was whitewashed as someone scrawled ‘future styles’ on the wall
The street artist Banksy may have struck again as a mural has appeared on the same Southampton wall where his previous work was vandalised.
A piece depicting a child surfaced on Friday night and it is remarkably similar to a previous work he created on the same wall.
It shows a young figure holding a rope, which connects to a slogan reading ‘our future’.
A piece depicting a child that is remarkably similar to the artist’s 2002 Balloon Girl stencil surfaced on Friday night in Southampton (pictured)
This is the piece that originally appeared on the wall in 2010 before somebody whitewashed over the artwork
In a nod to his 2002 piece Balloon Girl, the rope connects to the ‘o’, which has inside it the logo of the environmentalist protest group Extinction Rebellion.
Banksy created a similar piece of art on the same wall in November 2010 which showed the same child’s figure with the words ‘No Future’, however it was vandalised days after it appeared as somebody white-washed over the piece and sprayed: ‘Future Styles.’
The latest piece could be a nod towards Greta Thunberg’s appearance in Banksy’s hometown of Bristol on Friday and her use of a hot air balloon.
The 17-year-old climate activist was joined by tens of thousands of people – many of them children missing school – for a climate strike in the city centre. Southampton has been identified by the World Health Organization as a city ‘on the limit’ in terms of air pollution.
Earlier this year Banksy created a new masterpiece in the spirit of Valentine’s Day after a picture of a little girl firing a catapult full of flowers appeared in Bristol
Gallery owner and Banksy ‘expert’ John Brandler said the new mural, in a run down area of the city not far from Southampton FC stadium, has all the hallmarks of Banksy’s work.
Mr Brandler, who runs Brandler Galleries specialising in Street and Urban art in Brentwood, Essex, says Banksy may have returned to ‘fix’ the artwork.
He said: ‘It is difficult to judge if it is definitely a Banksy piece from the photos I have seen, as they are shot at an angle, but is it not unknown for Banksy to go back to old murals that have been damaged.
‘So it may well be he has gone back. I would say there is a 60 to 70 per cent chance it is his work, but we need to see what he put on his website.’
This artwork, showing a homeless man on a bench being pulled along in a reindeer sleigh surfaced in Birmingham in December last year was also believed to be a Banksy
Banksy unveiled the ‘Scar of Bethlehem’ (pictured) in December. It features a nativity scene with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus – but instead of a star hanging over the crib, there is what appears to be a large bullet hole piercing an imposing grey wall
Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Culture, Labour councillor Satvir Kaur said: ‘Banksy is an international icon and is no stranger to Southampton.
‘It would be great if he had returned to add to one of his pieces – something he’s done before – at a time when Southampton is growing its cultural offer.
‘As we know Banksy is a keen political activist, and art can be used to translate the most powerful messages.
‘With our climate emergency and this mural in an area where the children are among the most deprived in the country, it is a poignant place to have it and an important reminder for us all to act.’