Bestselling Banksy is back

The new work cleverly references Tox

On my way home yesterday I noticed that infamous street artist and bestselling author Banksy has struck again.

The piece, in Kentish Town, is a reference to Tox, a graffiti tagger familiar with any London commuter. Tox, 26 year old Daniel Hampton, was recently found guilty of seven counts of criminal damage for his tags on the capitals trains and buses.

Prosecutor Hugo Lodge said, “He is no Banksy. He doesn’t have the artistic skills so he has to get his tag up as much as possible.”

Banksy, who has sold over 411,000* copies of his illustrated Wall and Peace since publication, cleverly incorporates Tox in his new work. As Tox suffers the long arm of the law, owners of the property where Banksy sprayed his new work have protected it with a perspex cover.

Perhaps Tox should have sought infamy and a publishing contract before heading out in the night to paint the town red, yellow, and blue?

*Data from Nielson Bookscan. Sales to the value of £5,405,300.