The latest work by controversial artist Banksy is a mural ‘One Nation Under CCTV’ painted next to a CCTV camera at a Post Office yard in the West End of London. Banksy said”We could have put prints up for sale and made a fortune, but that’s not what this is about. We wanted people to be able to come here and have a go themselves.’
And when they’ve finished, they’re invited to take away whatever they like. ‘We did a show where we gave away free canvases to kids a couple of years ago, and this is just a progression from that. We’re giving away a piece of wall instead of the canvas.’
French graffiti legend Blek le Rat, who won’t arrive until tomorrow. Banksy is a huge fan. ‘Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it, too,’ he says, ‘only Blek did it 20 years earlier.’
Described as Britain’s Andy Warhol, undercover graffiti guerrilla Banksy is not only our most important working artist, but one of the world’s most elusive criminals.
In January, a wall defaced by his spray can sold for £208,100. Everyone from Jude Law to Brangelina has his politically charged stencils on their walls