Banksy defacer strikes... but rips shoe in process
AN artist who travels the world creating parody works of Banksy has struck at one of the most famous Banksy artworks in Bristol.
The anonymous artist calls themselves ‘Banksy Hates Me,’ and paints artworks in Banksy’s famous stencil style in the US, Europe and Israel.
Now, they appear to have added to the Girl With The Pierced Eardrum, one of Banksy’s largest works in Bristol.
The work was painted in the autumn of 2014 on a wall on Spike Island near to Baltic Wharf by the Floating Harbour, and depicts a copy of Vermeer’s famous Girl With the Pearl Earring, except Banksy used a burglar alarm mounted on the wall in place of the earring.
The work had black paint splattered across it within the first few days of it appearing nine years ago, and there have been regular tagging incidents, but the image itself has remained largely unscathed over those years. A large security fence was placed in front of the entrance to the area in front of the wall recently, and at the start of the Covid pandemic, someone added a facemask to the portrait. Now, the artist ‘Banksy Hates Me’ has added their own stencil work at the foot of the portrait. It depicts a version of one of Banksy’s signature images – the Girl with the Balloon – except this one is sticking up a middle finger to the larger portrait. Instead of releasing a balloon, she’s released a parachute with the Banksy Hates Me cross bones logo on underneath. The artist claimed the work on their Instagram page, adding that their ‘shoe got torn up on the barrier fence.’
Banksy’s last recognised work was created in February this year in Kent, called Valentine’s Day Mascara, although one called Morning Has Broken has been created since, but was never designed to last – it was painted on a building just about to be demolished.