Arsenal fanatic Northbanksy has previously hidden his identity
ARTWORK by Arsenal’s very own Banksy will be on sale at a charity fundraiser in a Drayton Park pub next Friday.
The inaugural Arsenal Art Fair, organised by the charity Gooners v. Cancer at the newly reopened Drayton pub, will feature five artists including anonymous graffitist Northbanksy, whose giant murals of players line the tunnel approaching the Emirates at Hornsey Road and are well known to the team’s fanbase.
Northbanksy – who daylights as an international documentary maker – began in 2019 with the protest graffiti “AFTV OUT,” in reference to his dislike of a niche YouTube channel, Arsenal Football TV, that he said was stirring tensions amongst Arsenal fans.
“There I was writing things like ‘AFTV OUT’, very negative, angry,” said Northbanksy.
“But if I was a Banksy, wouldn’t I do something more positive? More creative? I thought: what would a Northbanksy do? And that’s when I started to do the pictures.”
The super-size murals have adorned the sides of the Hornsey Road tunnel since April, and despite the fact that they’re not strictly legal, neither the council nor the football club have made any move to take them away.
Gunners artwork by Northbanksy in the Hornsey Road tunnel near the Emirates Stadium
“I used to hide my face but I don’t really anymore. I chat to everyone, and I’ve got a real sense of community from doing it,” Northbanksy said.
“I’m there late at night, and you’re meeting all different sorts of people.
“The kids, the phone thieves, the people who go roller skating, the pensioners. Everyone says something positive, and that’s the community payback.”
The name “Northbanksy” was given to him by someone who commented on a social media post of one of those early tags.
It is a reference to the North Bank at the old Highbury where some of the club’s passionate fans stood.
“I’m very patriotic about north London,” he said. “My flag is in that football club. That’s my nation. So to do something where the community is saying thank you to me, face to face, it’s really gratifying.”
As well as the giant murals of players, Northbanksy also likes to paint Arsenal fans who have died, and has recently done two murals of Palestinian journalists killed during the war between Israel and Hamas.
Despite the popular acclaim from fans, Northbanksy has been arrested for his street art on two occasions at least.
In one incident, four police officers came to his home in Finsbury Park and handcuffed him in his bedroom, only for the case to eventually be thrown out after they lost the CCTV footage that identified him.
The fundraiser at the Drayton Park pub is an opportunity for fans to buy Northbanksy’s pieces but, as previously reported in the Tribune, they haven’t always been for sale. What changed?
He said: “I need money, basically. I’ve got to feed my family basically and this was sitting right here for me to monetise it. I sell them to Arsenal fans all over the world – Australia, Hong Kong, America. I make a good living from it.”
His artistic reputation is also on the up. Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka recently posted a series of photos to say goodbye to his teammate Emile Smith-Rowe, who was leaving to join Fulham.
One of the photos he shared was a Northbanksy original of the two players arm in arm.
“The aim is for the players themselves to buy them,” the artist told the Tribune.
Other locals displaying their work at the Arsenal Art Fair next week include Highbury born and bred Ruth Beck, who does watercolour paintings of neighbourhood spots, and Del Llewellyn, a self-taught artist who does impressively realistic drawings of Arsenal legends.
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