Banksy-style work appears in Thurso
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A WORLD-renowned international street artist may have taken a recent trip to Thurso, it has emerged.
Lisa Verschoyle, the manager of Pentland Lodge House in Granville Street, came across artwork at the town’s harbour that looks remarkably similar to the work of street artist Banksy on Wednesday.
Banksy is the pseudonym for a graffiti artist that over the past decade has become well known for scrawling politically motivated, anti-Establishment art on everything from downtown LA street corners to the Israeli West Bank wall.
He has a cult following but has also caused widespread controversy due his work being viewed by various local authorities as vandalism.
The work in his style has appeared on the former waste water treatment works – which now acts as a combined storm overflows in times of heavy rainfall – at the very bottom of Riverside Road. It shows a very small picture of a little girl losing a red heart-shaped balloon to the wind.
Almost exactly the same piece of artwork already exists in the South Bank of London where it is next to the words "THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE".
Lisa is a fan of Banksy’s work and instantly recognised the style while out walking her dog near the beach.
"If it is him then that’s absolutely amazing," she told the John O’Groat Journal yesterday. "He’s such a famous artist and for him to come this far north to the little town of Thurso is just brilliant. It’s not graffiti, it’s street art."
Lisa is keen to verify the artwork but does not know how to do it as Banksy is famous for being unknown.
"He’s pretty incognito," she explained. "He doesn’t do interviews, no-one knows who he is or what he looks like."
She added: "I’ve e-mailed it to a few friends in London and they said if it’s not him then it’s a good forgery."
Lisa used to live in London where she regularly came across his work which in the past has included writing "One Nation Under CCTV" on the side of a building, portraying Queen Victoria as a lesbian and a statue of Michelangelo’s David wearing a suicide vest and with his face covered.
In May last year Banksy released a print showing a smoking petrol bomb contained in a Tesco Value bottle in response to widespread concern about a new Tesco opening in Bristol – where his work first surfaced.
"His art is always a bit politically motivated and everything is a bit tongue in cheek," said Lisa.
"I was quite shocked at the thought of Banksy in Thurso."
Staff at the fish shop located nearby reported they had not noticed the new addition to the north side of the building.
