Word reached us on Monday of a ‘Banksy’ on Leith Walk.
The person who told us of its appearance is a keen admirer of the Bristol-based graffiti artist, and has travelled widely to study his work in situ.
He’s convinced that the new arrival in Edinburgh is the real deal, and claims that Banksy visits the capital far more often than most people realise. One reason for being so sure on this occasion, he says, is that the artist’s signature appears nearby (although greatly obscured by subsequent visitors’ irreverent tags).
On the off-chance that it is indeed a genuine work (see below), and therefore worth a small fortune, we’re not going to say exactly where it is for fear of helping someone swipe it.
But non-expert as we are, we’re not at all convinced it’s anything more than a crude reproduction.
Adhesive transfers and stencils ‘inspired by’ Banksy’s oeuvre are widely available online. It took no time at all to find one very like that on the Walk, only clearer.
So how do you tell if the Banksy on your doorstep is real or fake? Apparent tell-tales are:
- mostly monochrome with additional splash of colour
- good but not spectacular draftsmanship
- detail achieved through multi-layered stencils
- political subject matter
- high footfall area
- sometimes use of a signature, sometimes not
- permission sought from and granted by property holder.
In the case of this Leith Walk example, no-one we spoke to nearby had been approached for permission, or even knew of the piece’s existence. And the work is unusually rusty-brown and smudged – far from the crisp standard we’ve seen elsewhere. And we couldn't find a signature despite looking high and low.
Apart from anything else, would Banksy himself choose to reproduce one of his works here which has already appeared elsewhere at street level and widely in print?
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Tom Gray We'll be in cargo shorts I read it as
Nicole Roberts we'll be inchorgo??
Jessica Ann in charge?
Laugh not, but one dog will be in chorizo?
