Witnesses claim to have spotted Banksy visiting his latest piece of art- further feeding into the mystery surrounding his true identity.
Pictures of a man hanging around the mural in London bore a ‘striking resemblance’ to Robin Gunningham, the man rumoured to be Banksy.
Many people believe Gunninghham is the true identity of Banksy – and he has been named as the elusive artist by several media outlets.
The pictures, snapped at 10am this weekend were taken just outside Banksy’s latest mural in Finsbury Park, London.
They depict a man with greying hair and similar features to Gunningham – the anonymous source who spotted the man is local to the area and an avid Banksy fan.
He said: ‘I have been going to the mural for a whole week. On Saturday there were more security fences and CCTV up and a few people putting up Perspex over the artwork.
‘I went back at 10am to go have another look at what they were doing and saw this man who looks exactly like the photo I saw 20 years ago of Banksy.
‘I found it weird he was putting up his own Perspex. The people putting it up weren’t wearing council uniforms or anything, one was wearing a Nirvana t-shirt. He must have been there for hours.’
It’s now been confirmed the man is not Banksy, but George Giorgio – who said he doesn’t even like graffiti.
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67-year-old George told The Sun he is the dad of the graffitied building’s landlord installed perspex to protect the art.
The new mural, which appeared on March 18, depicts an abstract appearance of foliage next to a stencil of a person holding a pressure hose.
It was later confirmed by Banksy on his Instagram to be genuine, however, only two days later, the mural was defaced with white paint.
The urban tree artwork – visited by Jeremy Corbyn among others – was painted on the side of a residential building in Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London.
Nobody knows who Banksy is, but his works have appeared across the country, and there are plenty more located in London even if one was taken down within an hour of its discovery.
It’s prompted concerns that the urban tree artwork may not last much longer, with one local, named James, commenting ‘RIP’ on X.
A sign asking people not to walk on the grass in front of the artwork has also been put up after the artwork became a hotspot for journalists, photographers and sightseers.
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