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Could a mural in Galicia be the first Banksy artwork in Spain?

Fiona Govan
Fiona Govan - [email protected]
Could a mural in Galicia be the first Banksy artwork in Spain?
The mural of two Guardia Civil kissing is signed by "Banksy"

A painting daubed on a wall in the Galician town of Ferrol de Coruña has caused excitement with the hope that it might actually be a genuine artwork by the anti-establishment artist, Banksy.

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The signed mural of two Civil Guards locked in a kiss appeared on Tuesday morning on a wall that was officially “reserved for Banksy” in a bid to tempt the infamous anonymous artist into town.

The space had been deliberately left blank during a regeneration project last September that invited urban artists to decorate the town.

Eduardo Hermida, the organiser of the Meninas de Canido street festival behind the art project said he had emailed the coordinates of the space to an email on Banksy’s official website.

But although hopeful that the work was a true Banksy, he admitted there was no way to confirm it.

“We just don’t know if the work which has appeared in the reserved space is original or not,” he said.

“But if it is an imitator, it will be the work of someone inspired by the technique of the great one,” he added..

The mural of two officers of the law gripped in an embrace closely emulates one of Banksy's most famous images; that of two British policemen kissing which appeared on the wall of a Brighton pub in 2004 and was later sold at auction for $575,000.

But although Banksy does not always sign his artwork, he does use an Instagram account to post photos of newly created street art, usually within a day of its creation.

No such post has made of the Ferrol artwork as yet.

But that isn’t dampening the enthusiasm of his many Spanish fans, including the Guardia Civil themselves.

The official Guardia Civil account boasted of being the chosen subject of a possible Bansky.   

 “Well, it would be nice to be the protagonist of the first in Spain, don’t you think?” 

The true identity of the mysterious British street artist has been a closely guarded secret ever since his iconic artwork first appeared on streets around Bristol in the 1990s.

Various attempts have been made to unmask him and dozens of theories as to his true identity abound including some suggesting that it is not the work of one artist but a collective. Or even a woman.

 

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