New Work Appears Overnight in Waterloo Place Amid Renewed Attention on the Artist
A large resin statue appeared overnight on Wednesday 29th in the heart of Victorian London, in Waterloo Place, bearing the signature of the elusive Bristol street artist on its base. The sculpture is the first artwork Banksy has unveiled since a Reuters investigation in March revealed details about his real identity, which had been kept a closely guarded secret.
The last work claimed by the artist dated back to December 2025: just before Christmas, a mural painted beneath the Centrepoint skyscraper on Tottenham Court Road in London denounced the housing emergency in the United Kingdom, depicting two homeless children gazing up at the sky. Although it may seem unusual within his artistic practice, this is not the first time Banksy has left a statue in London. In 2004, The Drinker, a subversive take on Rodin’s The Thinker, was installed on Shaftesbury Avenue before being stolen shortly afterwards. His works, installed on both private and public property, are widely interpreted as political statements.
The work at the centre of attention is a statue that appeared in the St. James’s area, on a purpose-built pedestal resembling a celebratory monument. It depicts a man in modern dress, jacket and tie, walking stiffly while waving a flag that covers his face: blinded by his own patriotism, evidently, with one foot already dangling over the edge of the pedestal. The image recalls recurring themes in Banksy’s work: the relationship between power and blindness, between national identity and ideological construction. The body, rigid and outstretched, suggests a movement that could easily become a fall. The balance is precarious as is often the case in his imagery.
Banksy statue at Waterloo Place London.
Photo cchana. Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY-SA 4.0
Banksy statue at Waterloo Place London. Photo Mr Ignavy. Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY-SA 2.0
At first, there were several reasons to doubt the attribution from the chalk signature on the pedestal, an unusual practice for Banksy, to the medium chosen: not his customary stencils or murals, but a fully three-dimensional installation. However, after a delay of several hours, Banksy claimed authorship of the work by publishing an ironic video on his Instagram page. The installation has already become a destination of attraction and curiosity, while authorities decide what to do with it. Westminster City Council, which is responsible for the area, said: “We’re excited to see Banksy’s latest sculpture in Westminster, making a striking addition to the city’s vibrant public art scene.” Despite everything, like many of the artist’s works, it could be removed, relocated, or absorbed into other circuits. For now, however, it stands as a clear signal: beyond the speculation about identity, the artistic practice continues to function.
This marks the first return to the scene for the British artist, known for his murals stealthily executed in the most varied locations across the UK and beyond, since a Reuters journalistic investigation appeared to confirm his mysterious and never officially acknowledged identity as Robin Gunningham, born in Bristol in 1973. If the journalistic reconstruction had reopened the debate about the artist’s identity, fueling speculation about a possible end to his anonymity, this new intervention also carries the value of an indirect response: the practice continues, and moves onto an even more visible and overtly sculptural plane. In this case, the pedestal itself becomes a space of symbolic negotiation.
On the statue’s position on the ceremonial island in Waterloo Place, Banksy said: “There was a bit of a gap.” The work appears to mock the monumental style of the nearby statues dedicated to King Edward VII (son and successor of Queen Victoria) and the philanthropist Florence Nightingale, not to mention the adjacent memorial to the fallen of the 19th-century Crimean War. Critics and experts see it as a gesture of mockery toward Britain’s imperial legacy, as well as toward certain contemporary resurgences of nationalist and Western pride. James Peak, creator of the BBC podcast series The Banksy Story, said: “Banksy had pulled off another fantastic coup… the positioning is absolutely knockout. […] Every (Banksy) piece is a campaign.”
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