‘Faceless Painter’ Banksy, Did He Visit Ukraine This Time?

Posted a mural photo with the caption 'Borodianka, Ukraine' on their Instagram
Featuring a girl doing a handstand, a boy flipping a figure presumed to be Putin
British artist known as the 'Faceless Painter' and 'Street Artist'

A mural presumed to be painted by Banksy in Borodianka, Ukraine. Photo by Banksy (Instagram capture)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The British artist Banksy, known as the 'faceless painter' and 'street artist,' painted a mural on the rubble of a building destroyed by bombing in Ukraine.

On the 11th (local time), Banksy posted three photos of the mural on his Instagram along with a brief caption, "Borodianka, Ukraine." Borodianka is a city located northwest of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which suffered heavy damage from Russian bombings in early February during the initial phase of the war. The Russian army occupied the area for several weeks before retreating in April. The mural in the Instagram photos depicts a young gymnast girl balancing on her hands in a handstand position on the debris of a destroyed building.

The British daily newspaper The Guardian reported that there is another mural in Ukraine believed to be painted by Banksy. One mural shows a small boy wearing a judo uniform throwing a large man resembling Russian President Vladimir Putin over his shoulder. Another mural painted on a concrete barricade in Kyiv depicts a young boy and girl playing on a seesaw, using a metal tank trap placed in front of the concrete as the seesaw.

Mural discovered in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Yonhap News

There is no way to confirm if these paintings were truly created by Banksy, but since their style is similar to his other works and Banksy himself posted photos on Instagram, foreign media speculate that these are indeed Banksy's works. Based in Bristol, UK, Banksy is also famous for his various eccentric acts. He has secretly hung his works in museums in London and New York despite the risk of arrest, and performed a shredding act where a high-priced artwork sold at auction was shredded by a shredder installed inside the frame. This piece, "Balloon Girl," which was shredded in half, was renamed "Love is in the Bin" and its price has since soared nearly 20 times.

Banksy occasionally leaves murals in unexpected places around the world. In December 2020, his mural "Sneezing Old Man" painted in a residential area in the UK attracted not only residents but also tourists, causing local house prices to skyrocket. The homeowner canceled plans to sell the house after its value surged overnight and even installed a transparent protective shield to prevent damage to the mural. The mural's value was estimated at a staggering 5 million pounds (approximately 7.8 billion KRW). Additionally, Banksy is reported to have painted "Slingshot Rat," a work protesting Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, on abandoned concrete blocks in Bethlehem, Israel, in 2007. Regarding his anonymity, he once said, "A person known to the public cannot do graffiti. The two are mutually exclusive."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.