Banksy in Jinočany? On the crumbling wall appeared graffiti exactly the same as that of the legendary artist
In a small village near Prague, graffiti appeared exactly like those by the mysterious British artist Banksy. He became famous already in the 90s, when he started decorating Bristol with his street graffiti. One such has now appeared in Jinočany, which is located in the Praha-západ district about 15 kilometers from the center of the metropolis.
Banksy’s identity is still unknown, but he reports on his creations through social networks. The last time we were able to record this was with creations in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, but also in Irpini and Boroďants, which suffered the most from Russian bombing and shelling in the spring phase of the war. In March, a copy of one of Banksy’s most famous anti-war works CND Soldiers (the abbreviation CND belongs to the British NGO Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) was even auctioned off for $106,505 (almost CZK 2.5 million) for the benefit of a children’s hospital in Kyiv. It originally appeared as graffiti on the British Parliament building in 2003 during protests against the war in Iraq.
In Jinočany, a girl appeared on the wall of a half-ruined farmhouse, who looks like she is rolling a piece of plaster that has fallen in place. Of course, it is not very far from Ukraine to Prague, and with a lot of imagination it can really be an original work by a British artistrather, it is a successful copy. However, the work fulfills its purpose and at least brought the small village to the “center of the action”. People come here to look at the painting, take selfies and share them on social networks. “Is it Banksy, isn’t it Banksy? I don’t care, it looks great,” Nela H wrote on Instagram.
After all, even Banksy’s exhibitions are more like a lottery, visitors never know which of the works is truly original and which is only a successful reproduction. Banksy’s works can currently be seen in St. Michael’s Church near the Old Town Square. “Part of his works that can be seen here were created by Czech street art artists. Banksy’s natural environment is the street, therefore it is clear that getting his work into a gallery is not realistic,” describes the concept of the exhibition, its curator Jiří Jaskmanický. It is Banksy’s mysterious identity that is one of the biggest attractions that the public admires in him.
Almost everyone remembers the four-year-old auction of Banksy’s work, which half shredded itself during the auction. The London auction house Sotheby’s estimated at the time that the price would reach six million pounds (177.6 million crowns). More than three times the final amount, it became the highest Banksy work has ever sold for.
Banksy confirmed that he created seven graffiti in Ukraine.
Author: Reuters