Banksy confirms Port Talbot graffiti on a steel worker’s garage is his after posting ‘season’s greetings’ video on Instagram months after the town was mistakenly named most polluted in UK
- Banksy has claimed responsibility for artwork depicting child playing in ash
- Painting appeared on two walls of a garage in Taibach, Port Talbot overnight
- Residents believe the graffiti references Tata steelworks plant two miles away
A steel worker has spoke of his shock after Banksy confirmed a graffiti piece painted on his garage was in fact by the secretive street artist.
The world-famous artist visited Port Talbot in Wales overnight, leaving behind a new artwork thought to be a statement about the nearby steelworks plant.
The painting appeared on two walls of a garage in the Taibach area and shows a child playing in the falling ash and smoke from a fire in a skip.
Banksy posted a video on Instagram this afternoon of the work alongside the caption ‘Season’s greetings’.
Ian Lewis who owns the garage with the Banksy artwork (pictured) says he wants to keep the artwork in place for residents in Port Talbot
The painting appeared overnight and shows a child playing in the falling ash and smoke from a fire in a skip
At the end of the footage, which is soundtracked by Christmas music, the video pans up to show the industrial landscape of Port Talbot steelworks, which is thought to have inspired the painting.
Rachel Honey-Jones, 33, who lives in The Mumbles on the other side of Swansea Bay, said: ‘It’s amazing, an incredible addition to Port Talbot.
‘Everything about it is political messaging, the way the boy has been drawn, the positioning near the steelworks, the fact it was done just after the (Severn Bridge) tolls went down.’
Black dust from the town’s steelworks covered houses, cars and pets in the area in July, a possible inspiration for the artwork.
Ms Honey-Jones warned that the artwork should be protected by the council.
She said an artist friend was tipped off to the location overnight and stayed to keep guard.
She added: ‘People have already taken sledgehammers to it and tried to throw paint on it. It will bring visitors and trade and tourism to the county so it really does need to be protected.’
The world-famous street artist visited Port Talbot in Wales, leaving a new artwork that appears to comment on the nearby steelworks plant
Ian Lewis, 55, was stunned when he realised his blockwork garage wall had the new artwork.
The Tata steel worker said: ‘I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment to be honest.
‘It’s certainly attracted a lot of attention since it hit social media last night.
‘Fans of Banksy have been here and people have come along to see it.’
Banksy’s works have fetched millions, and his iconic Girl and Balloon famously sold for £860,000 earlier this year despite being shredded.
The artwork appears months after Port Talbot was mistakenly dubbed the most polluted town in the UK.
In May the World Heath Organisation had to apologise after it admitted its figures were wrong.
The global body said Port Talbot’s air pollution was measured at 9.6853 micrograms, just under half of the figure it had originally given the town, and below WHO national guideline of 10 micrograms.
Residents believe the mural could be a political statement about the nearby steelworks plant
Resident Pete Humphries said: ‘I reckon that because the tolls have been scrapped on the Severn Bridge that Banksy has come over from Bristol into Wales.
‘It is a fantastic image.’
Local councillor Nigel Thomas Hunt said: ‘The placing of the work is very clever, in between the blast furnace and the M4, yards from where Richard Burton was brought up and where we’ve had bonfires for years.
‘You can look at the painting and see the furnaces in the background. We’re delighted. I’ve written to the council already and we need to secure this really quickly.’
A spokesman for Neath Port Talbot Council said: ‘The Council is sending officers to liaise with the property holder to assist in protecting this artwork.’