"That work is not Banksy's": Itchers claim authorship of Nottingham child

Is the mural that appeared a few days ago on a brick wall in Nottingham, England, really Banksy ’s? The popular Bristol-based street artist has attributed the work to himself (by posting its image on his Instagram account, that is, with the way through which the British graffiti artist “authenticates” the authorship of his works), but things would seem to be more complicated: one of his colleagues from Birmingham, Itchers, in fact claims in turn the authorship of the little girl doing the hula hoop with a bicycle tire.

It must be premised that already a few hours after its appearance, critics specializing in street art had expressed doubts about the “Banksyan” authorship of the work. Curator Tom Godfrey, curator of the Bonington Gallery at Trent University in Nottingham, had told local newspaper Nottinghamshire Live that he had “strong doubts: it lacks the sharpness of Banksy’s other works, and it also lacks the verve and socio-political overtones often found in Banksy’s public works.”

Itchers in turn contacted Nottinghamshire Live to claim authorship of the work. The 28-year-old street artist, who hails from one of Birmingham’s suburbs, Sutton Coldfield, reconstructed the genesis of the work by saying that he had recently been in Nottingham and had seen the bicycle chained to the post (the one near which the work was later made), and that it looked to him like a “sad old bicycle,” a reason that would prompt him to add “a little happiness” for these “dark times.”

“I was in Nottingham not long ago,” Itchers said, “and I saw this bicycle tied to the lamppost, so I thought that old bike looked really sad. And I thought I could cheer it up a little bit by putting a little girl next to it playing hula hoop with the tire that the bike no longer had, so I came back on Tuesday and painted it on the wall. It’s simply a work done to entertain people, that’s all. Everyone in Nottingham needs to be safe, I know about the lockdown and the sharp rise of Covid cases, so I wanted to bring some happiness in these dark times.” At the moment, all of Nottinghamshire is in fact in “level 2” lockdown, according to the new scale introduced in the UK: it means that residents cannot leave the restricted territory, no strangers can be received in the house, some activities are closed (e.g., nightclubs), bars and restaurants must close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., there are restrictions on the number of people who can attend ceremonies, while schools, universities and churches remain open, and sports can only be done outdoors, while indoors is allowed as long as people who do not live together do not come into contact.

For Itchers, it is an honor that many thought the work was done by Banksy, “however,” he added, “it’s starting to gnaw at me a little bit now.” Itchers’ modus operandi, after all, is quite similar to Banksy’s: he, too, uses stencils to create works similar to those of his more famous colleague, and he, too, operates in anonymity. And as a result, people often think that his works are actually ... Banksy’s. And now the public is divided: there are those who accuse Banksy of appropriating someone else’s work, and those who accuse Itchers of being an impostor. For the time being, Banksy has not yet commented on Itchers’ accusations, but the fact remains that he has appropriated the work. Work that, moreover, actually appeared on Tuesday, but about which people began talking massively only two days later.

"That work is not Banksy's": Itchers claim authorship of Nottingham child

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