Chelsea locals unimpressed by Banksy’s ‘smudged’ and ‘messy’ paintings

Banksy’s latest street art drew a disappointing reaction from well-heeled Chelsea residents who complained it was ‘a bit messy’. 

The elusive street artist today unveiled a new piece of wall art in the inner London borough which depicts two dark elephant silhouettes with their trunks stretched out towards each other. 

The building is understood to be split into three flats and is owned by Shabir Chowdhary, the managing partner of an asset management company RYSE.

Since posting an image of the artwork to Instagram earlier today, has drawn praise from a local councillor who praised the artist’s ‘amazing’ work. But local residents on the other hand are much less enthusiastic.

Trisha Abcorn said: ‘It’s not his best piece of work. It looks a bit rushed and the edges are a bit messy. It’s obvious that he was keen to do it in a hurry because he probably didn’t want to be spotted.’

She added: ‘We’re used to things being done a bit better around here.’

Frank Cummings, who admitted he was a Banksy fan said: ‘There are a lot of wealthy people around here and I’m sure they won’t be too impressed. This area doesn’t really need the attention of having a Banksy but I’m glad it’s here.’

Tourists also descended to view the artwork which is located on the side of a three storey building composed of three flats and faces onto Edith Grove, one of the busiest roads in the area.

Natasha Gamini from Italy said: ‘It looks as if a child has done it but nobody cares because it’s a Banksy. But I could have probably done a better job.’

Her partner Alberto added: ‘I’m very excited to see a Banksy but his artwork hasn’t got the best finish. I’ve seen better in Italy.’

But other locals were more grateful of the piece. Yusuf, who lives opposite the artwork said: ‘I only noticed it this morning and don’t know what time he did it. 

‘I didn’t hear any noise and am quite surprised that one of his works is on a busy road like this.

‘It’s quite amazing to be living opposite a Banksy but I’ve seen better stuff from him. 

‘He’s painted it on a main road and if you look closely, it looks smudged. I don’t think he’s very good at using stencils. I’m also a bit confused about what the two elephants mean.’

It comes after Banksy revealed another new artwork near Kew Bridge in West London yesterday. 

This features a silhouette of a goat painted on top of a ledge with rocks falling down below it and a CCTV camera pointed towards the animal, and appears on the exterior wall of exclusive gunmakers Boss & Co. 

Bristol-based Banksy did not write a caption for either Instagram post which has caused fans to speculate on the meaning of the two artworks – with some saying the piece in Chelsea could be a reference to ‘elephants in the room’.

The woman seen in front of the house on the corner of Edith Terrace and Edith Grove in Chelsea is said to be Lucy Boultbee-Brooks, 32, who was walking her dog Rufus.

Ms Boultbee-Brooks, from Hereford, is an asset manager for her family’s property investment and development firm Boultbee Brooks Real Estate. She posted a picture of Banksy’s image on her Instagram Stories with the caption: ‘Rufus made it.’

Ms Boultbee-Brooks told MailOnline: ‘I couldn’t believe it when I got sent the picture. I was just on a dog walk early this morning and unfortunately didn’t see anything.’ 

Banksy is renowned for choosing homes at random to use for his artwork, often shooting up their value by millions. 

Property expert Pete Mugleston, managing director at Onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk, claimed the artwork could significantly increase the building’s price tag.

He said: ‘If you are lucky enough to have your property touched by Banksy you should expect to see the value of your property double overnight.

‘There is no magic formula to calculate this kind of thing, but our estimate would be that if this was a property with the same average house price for a semi-detached property in Richmond of around £1million, then the Banksy artwork would add around £500,000 to £800,000, taking it to a £1.5million to £1.8million valuation.’

But Mr Mugleston also pointed out there were other factors to consider, such as a higher cost of insuring the building and the significant costs of preserving and securing the work.

Josh Rendell, who is Kensington and Chelsea Council’s councillor for Stanley ward where the artwork has appeared today, told MailOnline: ‘We’re already lucky enough to have a Banksy in the north of the borough on Portobello Road, so it’s amazing that the great Banksy has now come to Chelsea too. 

‘It’s private property so we’re reaching out to the owner on how we might be able to work with them to protect it.’

Yesterday, footage captured by CCTV cameras showed the moment Banksy climbed into a cherry picker wearing a face mask and hard hat as he prepared to paint the  Kew Bridge artwork.

Footage showed a van with two men dressed in orange high-vis clothing and helmets.

One of the men, who is masked, is believed to have been Banksy, famed for his politically themed works.

Accompanied by a friend, he was seen in the back of the cherry picker with the two locked in conversation.

The footage was captured at about 5am yesterday.

Bosses from Boss & Co told MailOnline they noticed the new artwork when they arrived for work.

An official said: ‘We noticed the artwork first thing in the morning and assumed it must be a Banksy.

‘Then we checked our security footage and saw the two men. They then pushed our security camera up and you can’t see them after that. It happened around 5am and they were there for about half an hour.’

Scores of people gathered outside the firm yesterday to view the work.

The official added: ‘It’s good but we don’t want the publicity. At the moment we’ve got no plans to remove it and are thinking of protecting it with some Perspex. It must be worth at least £10,000.’

Art expert art expert Josh Sandhu said Banksy’s latest work would have increased the value of the property by around £100,000.

Mr Sandhu from the Grove Gallery told MailOnline: ‘Few buildings are tagged by street artists, and even fewer are tagged by Banksy, a name recognised on an international scale. 

‘Undoubtedly, the property’s value will increase, given Banksy’s substantial following and the strong performance of his works in auctions. 

‘For instance, the Banksy piece in Port Talbot eventually sold with estimates around £100,000 or more. 

‘While it may be challenging to assign a precise valuation here, however, the Banksy alone would have increased the property value by at least £50-100,000.’

Tourists also descended to view the artwork which is located on the side of a three storey building composed of three flats and faces onto Edith Grove, one of the busiest roads in the area.

Natasha Gamini from Italy said: ‘It looks as if a child has done it but nobody cares because it’s a Banksy. But I could have probably done a better job.’

Her partner Alberto added: ‘I’m very excited to see a Banksy but his artwork hasn’t got the best finish. I’ve seen better in Italy.’

Banksy confirmed the piece on his Instagram page yesterday and there has been much speculation about its meaning.

One person on social media said the goat ‘represents the rebellious spirit of those feeling marginalised’.

Another commenter said it referred to recent riots at asylum seeker hotels across the country, saying: ‘Like the poor families hiding in those hotels right now with their foundations getting destroyed.’

Somebody else claimed the piece was a reference to societal short-sightedness, saying: ‘The camera is looking at the falling rocks, rather than what’s causing them to fall.’

Art teacher Amber Doffman, 26, spotted the artist’s Instagram post and immediately recognised its location before rushing straight out the door to go and find it.

She said: ‘I saw his post on Instagram 40 seconds after it went up and I immediately recognised where the art was. 

‘So I got in my car and raced there. I was there 15 minutes after he posted on Instagram – and the paint was still wet.’

Ms Doffman, who lives in Acton, said she has been writing to Banksy for years – and just a few months ago emailed him asking him to come to west London.

‘I emailed him asking him to come to West London and now here he is,’ the teacher said. ‘I’ll tell myself I made this happen. I mean, probably not – but it is a huge coincidence. I just can’t believe he was standing there. It’s unbelievable.’

Ms Doffman added that she believes the artwork is ‘to do with the environment – and how we’ve ruined it to the point that animals don’t know where to go anymore’.

She continued: ‘It’s also worth noting that that security camera wasn’t facing that way before. Banksy has turned it towards the goat. It’s like it’s wanting its attention.’

A worker was later seen climbing up a ladder and turning the security camera back the other way.

Ms Doffman added that the occasion was particularly special for her – because Banksy is the reason she took up the career she did.

She said: ‘He is my idol and the reason I became an art teacher. I am beyond inspired by Banksy. I hope they cover it with Perspex immediately before someone ruins it – I’m so scared it will get vandalised.’

The two artworks in London this week are Banksy’s first since a stunt at Glastonbury Festival in June in which an inflatable dinghy full of dummies dressed as migrants launched into the crowd, live on the BBC.

It happened during a set by alternative chart-toppers Idles, who had led the crowd in a chant of ‘f*** the king’, which was also broadcast live on BBC Four as part of their coverage of the long-running music and arts festival in Somerset.

Many fans at the Other Stage – traditionally billed as the alternative to the flagship Pyramid Stage – thought the inflatable life raft, carrying a number of seated dummies in high-visibility vests, was a prop for their politically charged headline set.

But a representative for Idles said that the boat was created by fellow Bristolian Banksy, and that the band were not aware of what had happened until after they came off stage.

The demonstration was thought to have been a nod to Rishi Sunak’s tough stance on tackling the small boats crisis.

It was described by then-home secretary James Cleverly as ‘trivialising’ small boats crossings and ‘vile’, but the artist responded saying his reaction was a ‘a bit over the top’. 

The graffiti artist previously funded a migrant rescue ship, which was impounded in Italy last year after responding to distress calls in the Mediterranean.

In March this year, another Banksy appeared overnight on the side of a building near Finsbury Park.

It showed a splattering of green which has been painted behind a bare tree to look like foliage, with a stencil of a person holding what appears to be a pressure hose next to it.

The site then attracted legions of Banksy fans to catch a glimpse at it.

But within three days the mural was defaced with white paint. It prompted the local council to erect a metal security fence to protect it from further damage.

The Mail on Sunday previously revealed Banksy to be Robin Gunningham, a middle-class artist who has repeatedly refused to confirm his identity.

His reputation is founded on the popularity of his trademark stencil-style art in public spaces – including on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians.

He has dozens of celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera, and his work repeatedly sells for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He is also known for his headline-making stunts, such as leaving an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland, California, and hanging a version of the Mona Lisa – but with a smiley face – in the Louvre, Paris.

His artwork Girl With Balloon famously self-destructed in a Sotheby’s London saleroom when it descended into a shredder in 2018. 

That piece was then renamed Love Is In The Bin, which in 2021 sold for £18.6 million, a record for Banksy’s work.

Last October, MailOnline reported how a former Labour Parliamentary lobbyist Joy Millward, originally from the West Midlands, is said to be married to Banksy.

She worked as a researcher for Labour MP Austin Mitchell, who died in 2021, and later set up Principle Affairs, a lobby group for charities. 

Ms Millward is thought to have met Mr Gunningham in 2003 before they married in Las Vegas in 2006.