Rumours have been rife over the last 24 hours that elusive and highly respected Street Artist Banksy was arrested with four other people in Hertfordshire and that his identity was revealed to the public by police. Banksy has silenced the rumour mill immediately by putting a fresh piece at the Albion Dockyard in Bristol.
The piece is Based on Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s masterwork Girl with a Pearl Earring. Showing Banksy’s love for using his surroundings within his art to deliver a more powerful and convincing message, the street artist painted around a bright yellow alarm box and named the piece ‘The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum’. Banksy also injected humour into the piece with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the burger van opposite the piece, with the caption “Gallery cafe open Monday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
The controversial pieces by painted by Banksy never fail to get reactions from the public and local authorities, with one of his latest pieces, the Art Buff, being vandalised with a penis and another the ‘Birds of a feather’ piece being removed by Clacton on Sea council for being offensive.