Rumoured Stockholm Banksy show ‘a fake’

“This is not his show,” publicist Jo Brooks told The Local on Friday, referring to Swedish media reports about an exhibition scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 23rd on Hudiksvallsgatan in Stockholm.

“This is a fake. It’s not Banksy. He has nothing to do with it.”

News of the show was first reported on Tuesday after Sveriges Television (SVT), TT, and several major newspapers received an anonymous letter titled "Banksy in Stockholm: This must be the place”.

“This exhibit is going to reclaim the temporary nature of this type of work and invite the public themselves to trespass,” the letter read, claiming it would be "his first official unofficial exhibition in Sweden".

A source with links to the international street arts scene told SVT it should be “taken as a given” that Banksy would be in Stockholm.

But Brooks, who has long handled public and media relations for the British artist, was adamant that Banksy had no involvement with the show and was not coming to Stockholm.

“Whoever’s behind it is just doing this to get publicity, it’s pretty obvious to me,” she told The Local.

She added that she was “surprised” that not one Swedish journalist had contacted her since the story broke in Sweden on Tuesday.

“I haven’t gotten a single call about this,” she said.

Since coming to prominence in the 1990s, Banksy has been dubbed a 'guerilla' artist for his work which is often controversial. Celebrities who have snapped up his work include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.