Banksy unveils new statue weeks after being 'unmasked' in years-long investigation

In the early hours of Wednesday (29 April), a statue appeared in central London, rumoured to have been created by Banksy.

And the artist has now confirmed the installation on Instagram, as he shared a video of statues nearby his own.

Next to the Crimean War Memorial in Waterloo Place, it shows a suited figure marching off the end of a plinth, holding a flag pole with the waving fabric of the flag smothering his entire face. It bears the elusive artist's signature.

The sculpture is positioned on a traffic island in Pall Mall, where Banksy said: "There was a bit of a gap." Showing the installation process, the video is underscored by marching, fanfare-like music with a man at the end saying he isn't a fan of it.

"No, I don't like it. That's a nice statue up there," he says pointing off-camera, "I prefer that."

This new statue comes a little after the artist is thought to have had his identity 'uncovered' after decades.

Banksy's anonymity and the mystery around him has always arguably been a key part of his renowned position in the art world.

His former manager, Steve Lazarides, previously explained: “The anonymity was a big thing, it started off with self-preservation in Bristol. He didn’t want to get caught, he didn’t want to go to jail, fair enough.

"And then as the years went by and it went on for longer, I think that the anonymity became quite a disease. Everyone has this figure in their mind, they have a folk hero, and it looks different in everybody’s mind. He’s never really got to enjoy the fame he got."

But following a years-long investigation from Reuters, it's thought there's finally enough evidence to conclusively uncover Banksy's true identity.

The news agency suggests it could only be one man - Robin Gunningham.

It's long been suggested that he's the man behind the art, although he did also allegedly change his name to David Jones back in 2007.

However, Banksy's lawyer Mark Stephens was quick to dispute Reuter's claims. He also suggested that it would be a bad thing for not just the artist, but everyone else, if the mystery associated with his name was no more.

More to follow.