Banksy confirms new statue in central London is really his work
Banksy has put an end to the speculation and confirmed the new statue that arose in central London is his work.
The statue, located outside the Athenaeum Club on Waterloo Place, appeared on April 29th. It features a man marching off a plinth, but he is unable to see due to his eyes being covered by a flag, which has blinded his vision.
It was also signed by Banksy, which led to crowds appearing at Waterloo Place to get a look at the Bristolian artist’s latest piece of work, and the installation of barriers.
However, due to Banksy’s radio silence during the first 24 hours of it appearing, it was theorised that it was an elaborate stunt by an impersonator who was using the world-famous artist’s name to get eyes on their new piece.
While this would have been a genius marketing approach, it turns out that the statue is actually a Banksy, who took responsibility for the creation on Instagram on April 30th.
The sculpture is Banksy’s first piece of 2026 after several months of silence from him after a busy 2025.
Prior to this stature, he last claimed responsibility for a piece, which appeared on December 22nd, 2025, at Queen’s Mews in Bayswater, that showed two children lying down on the floor, wrapped up in winter jackets and bobble hats, stargazing while one of them points up towards the sky.
Banksy also made headlines in 2025 for a mural, which appeared on September 8th outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, that depicted a judge attacking a protester with a gavel, who is lying on the ground and holding on to a blood-stained placard.
The provocative piece was quickly covered up before the Metropolitan Police confirmed they had launched an investigation into whether it was criminal damage.
Last month, a new report from Reuters claimed to have uncovered Banksy’s identity as Robin Gunningham thanks to a police report filed in New York in 2000, before the street artist had become world-famous.
Gunningham was previously named by the Daily Mail as allegedly being Banksy’s real identity in 2008, which was denied at the time by his manager.
