An art expert has given his verdict over a new mural which appears to have similarities to work of the world famous Banksy. The graffiti, which shows an elderly man holding a can while looking at three pigeons illustrated behind him, appeared on a brick wall in Nottinghamshire.
According to neighbours on Addison Street, the artwork first appeared on Monday, May 1. While residents in the area were left "stunned" by the artwork, a local artist has weighed in to say that this artwork is "probably not a Banksy."
Speaking to NottinghamshireLive, Principal Lecturer in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, Dr Benedict Carpenter explained why the graffiti doesn't resemble Banksy's work.
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He said: "First of all, Banksy's work normally has some kind of visual pun or hook in it. If you think about the very famous image of the rioter throwing a bouquet of flowers - that is surprising because you would expect the bouquet of flowers to be a brick. There is nothing like that in this image.
"What we have got here is a stencilled image of an elderly gentleman, looking away from the viewer at some pigeons, with one pigeon apparently standing on his head. It is kind of a nostalgic Hovis advert sort of image that's not got any of the political satire that I would expect to see in a Banksy work."
He went on to say that the lack of political satire or pun, as well as the execution, makes him believe it is not the world famous artist's work. He continued: "It also looks quite crudely executed. I think the quality of the drawing in the image is quite poor.
"It is not the same sort of standard of execution as you would expect from a Banksy work. It seems very unusual to me that the man is faced away from the viewer because Banksy's subjects nearly always engage the viewer.
"There are nearly always at least shown from their profile or there is a degree of emotional engagement in the image that just is not here. The character is not addressing the world.
"The artwork withdraws from the world because the man's gaze is directed away from our space. That is one of the things that makes it seem like a kind of nostalgic, or even a sort of 'nice' piece of work - and Banksy's work is not nice."
Banksy is a well known artist whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. He is an England- based artist and his work has appeared on the streets, walls and bridges across the world. His previous artwork includes the hula-hoop girl mural, which appeared on the side of a building in Lenton.
The art expert added: "Certainly his best works have got a kind of edge - it is slightly salty, it has got some kind of comments or satire to it that I am just not seeing in this particular example."
He continued: "That's just a man sitting on an empty space. There is nothing to make sense of that. Maybe there was something on the pavement and it has been removed - but now it does not make any sense at all. He is hovering in mid-air, isn't he?
"The quality of the visual imagery is lacking in political engagement. The quality of the drawing, it all feels off the pace. So, is it a Banksy? My feeling is that it is probably not a Banksy. If it is a Banksy, it is not a very good one."
He added: "It is probably easier for someone to forge a Banksy than it would be for someone to forge the work of most other painters, there would still be ways in which a fake Banksy could be distinguished from a real Banksy quite securely just by looking at how the paint has been applied. One of the things I see when I look at Banksy's work is that there is more nuance in the detail, the way in which the light areas and the dark areas are differentiated from each other and the way in which the line is drawn.
"I did not really have much hope because there is a lot of work that imitates Banksy. I think it is an imitation and I would encourage the artist to make an application to study on one of our four programmes. If it does turn out to be a Banksy after all - any artist can have an off day."
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