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Attributed to Banksy, a New Statue of a Suited Man, Blinded by a Flag and Walking Off a Ledge, Appeared in Central London

smithsonianmag.com · 754 words · saved by 1 readers

A new statue possibly by the artist Banksy was erected this week in the middle of the night in central London. The artwork depicts a suited man, blinded by the wind-blown flag he is carrying and walking unknowingly off the ledge of a tall pedestal. When the sun came up on the statue Wednesday morning, people were quick to note Banksy’s signature scrawled along the base of the statue’s plinth. On Thursday, the artist’s Instagram account posted a video seemingly confirming his involvement—the post includes footage of the statue’s apparent installation, interspersed with cuts to London icons including Big Ben, a statue of Winston Churchill, a black cab and a guardsman soldier. “Personally, I think what’s rather clever about it is he’s got the proportions perfectly right for the space,” says Philip Mould, a London-based art dealer whose gallery is near the statue, in an Instagram video of his own. “I also rather like it when art, which is often forgotten, can be controversial, can be stimu

The new statue was installed overnight in Waterloo Place. Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images A new statue possibly by the artist Banksy was erected this week in the middle of the night in central London. The artwork depicts a suited man, blinded by the wind-blown flag he is carrying and walking unknowingly off the ledge of a tall pedestal. When the sun came up on the statue Wednesday morning, people were quick to note Banksy’s signature scrawled along the base of the statue’s plinth. On Thursday, the artist’s Instagram account posted a video seemingly confirming his involvem

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