Graffiti News

A representative has ruled out Banksy's authorship

The police officer graffiti in Adelaide Crescent, Hove, is not a Banksy, according to a confirmation reported by The Argus. In an article published on 2 July 2026, reporter Francesca Williams wrote that a representative for Banksy had told the BBC the image was not the artist's work. The Argus also said it had contacted Banksy's team.

The image depicts a police officer spray-painting a heart. According to the newspaper, it appeared over the weekend preceding publication and prompted discussion because people thought its style resembled Banksy's. The report does not identify the person who made it or give an exact date of creation.

For anyone keeping a record of street art in Hove, the distinction matters immediately. Adelaide Crescent is the reported location of a work with an unknown maker; the resemblance that attracted attention does not justify adding Banksy's name as its creator. The representative's response answers the attribution question raised by the headline, while leaving the actual authorship open.

Local reactions were opinions about style and setting

Most of the social media responses described by The Argus doubted that the image was a genuine Banksy. One commenter argued that it lacked a relationship with its surroundings or an evident contextual idea, while another criticised the execution as flat and amateurish. These were viewers' assessments, rather than evidence establishing who painted it.

The newspaper also noted that Banksy often shares work on Instagram and that the Hove image had not appeared there. That absence was part of the situation described in the report. It should be kept separate from the representative's statement: an image missing from an account is not the same kind of evidence as an explicit response about authorship.

The useful reading of this episode is therefore more precise than a vote on whether the picture looks convincing. There was a stylistic comparison, a set of public reactions, and a reported denial from the artist's representative. Each belongs in the account, but each supports a different kind of claim.

The image can be discussed without an artist's name

The police officer and the heart remain the picture's identifiable subject, regardless of who painted them. A viewer can describe the contrast between a figure associated with authority and the act of drawing a heart without assigning a specific message to the unknown maker. The source provides no explanation from that maker.

This is a useful distinction when looking at street art. Describing what is visible keeps an observation grounded; explaining what the creator intended requires more information. The reported discussion about the image's surroundings offers one possible way to look at the work, but it does not establish a universal test for quality or authenticity.

For a street-art map or a personal photo archive, an unknown attribution is also meaningful information. A record can retain the reported location and the depicted action while stating that Banksy's authorship was ruled out. There is no need to fill the gap with another artist's name, a guessed commission, or a theory about why the image was made.

Adelaide Crescent is the location given for a visit

Adelaide Crescent in Hove is the location supplied by The Argus, but the article does not provide a street number, coordinates or a detailed route to the image. Readers planning to look for it should treat that as the limit of the location information available from this report.

The account documents the picture's appearance before 2 July 2026. It does not establish how long the graffiti will remain visible or what condition a visitor will find. A visit should therefore begin with checking the location and lawful access, rather than assuming the image is a permanent attraction.

When documenting a sighting, record the visible subject and the place observed, and keep those observations separate from attribution. View and photograph from places open to visitors without touching the picture or altering the surrounding property. The point of a record is to describe the work as encountered.

You can explore other street-art locations on the Wallscape map.

Source: The Argus