A new piece of street art suspected of being by Banksy has appeared on a wall in Nottingham. The image depicts a young girl hula hooping with what looks like a bicycle wheel, and is situated next to a real bicycle with its back wheel missing.
Whether or not this piece will make it into our list of the best street art from around the globe remains to be seen. According to the BBC, the work seems to have been created by the driver of a van with blacked out windows who pulled up by the spot near Ilkeston Road on Tuesday, but there has so far been no confirmation that it was made by Banksy. Banksy's Instagram account and website do not mention the artwork.
Nottingham City Council put up a protective screen over the artwork, but like the piece that appeared in Bristol over Valentine's Day (which was confirmed as a real Banksy), it was soon defaced by graffiti.
What could the artwork mean? Some thought that the bike could be a reference to the city's Raleigh factory, while others thought Nottingham might have been chosen because its high coronavirus infection rate. But many are questioning whether or not this is a real Banksy. Banksy expert Prof Paul Gough, of Arts University Bournemouth, told the BBC he had his doubts about the piece being a real Banksy.
"The quality of the drawing in the hands and the feet isn't as accomplished as I've seen in other works," he said.
"And it's not as topical. The last four or five pieces Banksy's done have been really addressing the crisis we're in at the moment with wit and humour."
With no confirmation from the artist himself, we're inclined to agree that this doesn't look like the real deal. But does that make it any less worthy of public debate and admiration? We'll leave that up to you to decide.
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