- George Georgiou, 67, claims he does not have an artistic bone in his body
- The retired builder was pictured helping install perspex to the artist’s mural
The mystery man who excited fans claimed is the elusive Banksy has slammed the theories as false – telling MailOnline his first thoughts upon seeing the artist’s latest installation was ‘what a bloody mess’.
George Georgiou, 67, woke up this morning to find himself at the centre of a Banksy identification storm after he was pictured helping install perspex to protect the artist’s latest mural which appeared on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park.
Those visiting the tree-themed painting on the weekend pointed out Mr Georgiou’s striking resemblance to Robin Gunningham – a former public schoolboy from Bristol whose link to Banksy was first revealed by a Mail On Sunday investigation in 2008.
Yet Mr Georgiou – who claims he does not have an artistic bone in his body – today shut down the speculation, explaining that he is simply helping his son, Alex Georgiou, 40, who owns the block of flats Banksy used for his latest work.
Watching workmen add protective glass to the artwork today, Mr Georgiou told MailOnline: ‘No, I am not Banksy. Unforunately it ain’t me, I wish it was but I am not that lucky.’
‘When I first saw it I thought ‘what a bloody mess’ but when you see it in context with the tree, it is a really smart idea,’ he added. ‘The guy has obviously got a vision, he knows what he’s doing, would I have thought of it? Not in a month of Sundays.
‘I am just not artistic. You give me a hammar and some nails, I’ll make you something but a drawing no? Matchstick men I am good at. We spent a good hour laughing about it [the claim he was Banksy] this morning. No one knows who he is.’
Fans had speculated that the retired builder was the artist after comparing photos of him working on the mural this weekend to a photograph allegedly taken of Banksy in Jamaica in 2004 showing a man with a bag of spray cans by his feet.
Those passing the painting, which first appeared on March 17, were quick to point out the resemblance between the two men – particularly comparing the pair’s glasses.
A local Banksy fan who took the initial pictures of Mr Georgiou said: ‘I have been going to the mural for a whole week. On Saturday there was more security fences and CCTV up and a few people putting up Perspex over the artwork.
‘I went back at 10am to go have another look at what they were doing and saw this man who looks exactly like the photo I saw 20 years ago of Banksy. I found it weird he was putting up his own Perspex.
‘The people putting it up weren’t wearing council uniforms or anything. One was wearing a Nirvana T-shirt – he must have been there for hours.’
Onur and Seda Erincmen who were visiting Banksy’s work today said that they could see an obvious resemblance between the pictures of Mr Gunningham and Mr Georgiou.
‘We totally think it’s the same guy as in the photo’, Mr Enricmen said. ‘I always wanted to know who Banksy is.’
Precious, another Hornsey Road resident added: ‘Looking at the picture of when Banksy was younger and seeing that person I think it is him. He will obviously protect his identity.’
Others, however, shut down the theories asking why Banksy would return to the painting a week after it first appeared.
‘I can see the resemblance but I don’t see why he would be lingering,’ Finsbury Park local Alfie Pannell, 23, added. ‘They do have the same glasses so it is possible.’
Local artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan said: ‘These guys are working here, they are putting up some glass screens so why would Banksy be here? These guys are putting up the screen and protecting it – Banksy would not want to be associated with it.
‘I don’t know how anyone knows what Banksy looks like – or if he’s a man or a woman. So I think Banksy has more important things to do than hang around with workmen on something he did a week ago. The odds are quite slim.’
Another artist Medea, sketching Banksy’s work added: ‘Nobody knows who Banksy is, he wouldn’t just appear like this.’
Crowds of people have continued to visit the site of the new mural in Hornsey Road. The new mural depicts an abstract appearance of foliage next to a stencil of a person holding a pressure hose. It was later confirmed by Banksy on his Instagram to be genuine.
Mr Georgiou, who has lived on Hornsey Road his whole life said he is not sure the painting will still be intact in two year’s time.
He added: ‘This was due for repainting this year anyways but now this has happened. We have spent an absolute shed load of money [carrying out maintenance].
‘It’s a point of interest and it’s brought a lot of people to the area. If it was something small and they could take it away and sell it I would understand but this is just going to wear away eventually and it will deteriorate. A year or a year and a half I think it will disappear.
‘You can see where the old paint is bubbling. This was painted about 12 years ago and it was due a spruce up. We were going to try to get the scaffolding and get it done.’
Mr Georgiou’s estate agent son Alex was quick to allay neighbour’s fears last week after residents in the flat block ferared their rent prices would be hiked off the back of the area’s sudden fame.
He told MailOnline: ‘I was having a bit of a laugh with the girls who were saying I was gonna put the rent up 250 per cent but no no. I doubt it.
‘Unless we have a massive Banksy fan who is prepared to pay over the odds. But a property is worth what a property is worth.
‘You know what, if somebody offered me millions and they can have the building and take the flats with it. Feel free.
‘Now we will have to wait and see what happens. It would be nice to see someone make some money out of it but I don’t really see how that could happen.’
Banksy is also believed to have gone by the name Robin Banks, and in 2017 the DJ Goldie referred to him in an interview on the Distraction Pieces podcast as ‘Rob’.
One of Banksy’s most striking moments was in 2003 when he disguised himself as a pensioner and installed a piece in a vacant spot in the Tate Britain in London.
His artwork Girl With Balloon self-destructed in a Sotheby’s London saleroom when descending into a shredder in 2018.
That piece was then renamed Love Is In The Bin, which in 2021 sold for £18.6million – an all-time high for a Banksy artwork.
