New ‘Banksy’ Artwork Mysteriously Appears In Model Village
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What seems to be a new Banksy artwork has mysteriously appeared in a model village in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
The artwork appeared on a new model within the village of a miniature stable with a horse inside.
The possible Banksy art was found on Sunday morning, August 8. However, the Merrivale Model Village is not the only place where Banksy-style art has appeared.
The supposed Banksy artwork reads: ‘Go big or go home’. The writing is signed off by ‘Banksy’ and is accompanied with a depiction of one of Banksy’s signature rats.
Merrivale Model Village took to their Facebook page to express their excitement at the possibility of their historic site having been chosen by the renowned, secretive graffiti artist for his next work. They said: ‘Has BANKSY been to Merrivale?’
The post said how the stable was a ‘new addition’ to the village and that, ‘upon closer inspection it was adorned with a familiar name to the street art scene…’
Owner of the model village, Frank Newsome, told BBC News:
It’s not one of our cottages. Someone has brought it in.
I’m a layman but we’ve Googled it and it does look genuine so we’re now trying to ascertain via the Banksy website whether it is or it isn’t.
While the artwork has yet to be authenticated, Banksy has been known to add his own work to attractions. He has previously added his work to the walls of the Tate Britain, the Louvre and four New York museums. He also positioned a doll dressed as a Guantanamo detainee at Disneyland, all while dressed in disguise.
Other artworks by the graffiti artist were also spotted in Lowestoft, Gorleston and on a Great Yarmouth bus stop. The bus stop piece shows people dancing on top of the shelter. The Gorleston design shows an amusement arcade-style crane hanging over some benches.
Lowestoft seemed to be a popular location for Banksy, with three artworks appearing around the town. One of a child next to a sandcastle on London Road North and another of a seagull scavenging from a skip, with a rat in a deckchair drinking a cocktail beside it. However, the final piece in Lowestoft, in Nicholas Everitt Park, which depicted three children in a small boat, was removed on Sunday due to flooding fears.
The artwork’s appearance in such locations does not seem to be accidental, as Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Lowestoft, before the pieces’ arrival, submitted a joint bid to become the next UK City of Culture in 2025.
Professor Paul Gough, principal and vice chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth, and a Banksy expert, said that he is ‘pretty sure’ the works are original Banksy. He joked that the artist ‘has clearly been enjoying an East Anglian staycation’. Either that, or he thinks that they are ‘very good fakes’.
The model village is left waiting ‘with bated breath’ for the results of the authentication or to see if Banksy will share a photo of the artwork via his Instagram, claiming it as his own.
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