To be or not to be Banksy? This is the question that had everyone losing their minds over the hula-hooping wall painting in Lenton.
World famous street Banksy has elucidated the case with a post on his official Instagram page on Saturday morning, October 17.
The work was spotted on a wall off Ilkeston Road in Nottingham on Tuesday, October 16, and shows a child hula-hooping with the missing tyre of a nearby bike.
Although speculations mounted earlier this week that it was made by the famous artist himself, experts were skeptical about this.
Nottingham City Council installed a perspex screen over the wall to protect it from being vandalised.
Just before Banksy confirmed the artwork is one of his, a fellow street artist from Birmingham, “Itchers”, had laid claim to the work.
The 28-year-old, from Sutton Coldfield, said he wanted to “bring a bit of joy” in these “dark times”.
“I was up in Nottingham not that long ago and I saw this bike chained up to the lamppost and I thought to myself: ‘that looks like a sad old little bike’,” declared Itchers for Nottinghamshire Live.
“I thought I could cheer it up a bit by having a child playing hula-hoop with the tyre that wasn’t there so I came up on Tuesday and painted it on the wall.
“It’s something for people to enjoy, that’s what it’s all about.
“Everyone in Nottingham needs to stay safe, I know about the lockdown and the massive rise in Covid cases there so I wanted to bring a bit of joy in these dark times.”
Banksy confirms works are his only by posting on his Instagram page, which he has done for this piece.
By Olimpia Zagnat