[imagesource: Banksy]

It seems wild that in this day and age, we still don’t know for certain Banksy’s identity.

In 2008, a newspaper reportedly unmasked Banksy as Robin Gunningham, which has been seconded by follow-up investigations, but nothing has ever been proven beyond doubt.

For those who want to go down that route, it’s worth watching Banksy Most Wanted, as well as Exit Through the Gift Shop, which is directed by Banksy.

Let’s turn our attention to what is possibly his latest mural, which shows a prison inmate making an escape from Reading Prison, a disused institution in southern England.

CNN reports that there is “excited speculation that it was painted by elusive street artist Banksy”:

Its style matches the work of street art’s most enigmatic star, but there has been no confirmation yet that Banksy is behind it.

The mysterious work likely depicts [Oscar] Wilde, danging over the wall of the jail on sheets from his typewriter.

He was held at the institution, then known as Reading Gaol, for two years from 1895, after being imprisoned under a historical law against “gross indecency” that was used to prosecute gay men.

Wilde’s 1898 poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” is a reflection on his time there.

Let’s get in a little closer on that mural:

Of course, the classic typewriter/bedsheet escape act.

Prof Paul Gough, a so-called ‘Banksy expert’ and vice-chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth, said he believed it was the work of Banksy, adding that the quality of the painting suggested it was done by someone “who knows how to paint and has got a lot of practice at painting up a scaffold in the dead of night”.

Vince John, from the 1loveart gallery in Bristol, said he believes “this is an example of Banksy’s street work at its best”.

Banksy usually claims responsibility for a mural or artwork via his Instagram account, but he has not posted since last December, when he confirmed that he was the person behind a mural which appeared in Bristol:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

It’s widely believed that Bristol is his hometown.

I guess we now wait to hear confirmation, as crowds flock to snap a shot for the ‘Gram.

[source:cnn]