“I went from being flattered that we thought alike to feeling uncredited”.
A celebrated cartoonist has accused Banksy of stealing her ideas for some of his most recognisable artworks.
Cinders McLeod, a former cartoonist for the Glasgow Herald, says that Banksy’s work often bore strong similarities to her own creations.
Her work pre-dates that of the anonymous art icon and she has pointed out similarities in Banksy pieces including Think Tank – which famously featured on Blur’s 2003 album of the same name.
Other pieces that face scrutiny include Banksy’s Bomb Hunger, which contains the image of a woman hugging a bomb. It bears a striking similarity to her own Cupid Bomb, which was created in 1997, some six years before Banksy’s image first emerged.
Friends, you may be interested in my story: am I the unknown, uncredited, Scottish- Canadian woman cartoonist behind Banksy? I’ve posted a collection of cartoon pairs – his and hers @AngelBoligan @monerorape @lajornadaonline @jornadags #plagio #caricatura @jaymesifuentes pic.twitter.com/PuIROt4e8g
— Cinders McLeod (@cindersmcleod) September 14, 2018
WOMAN BEHIND BANKSY? Excluded from editorial page, I create my own style for features. Do these 9 pages suggest my work in the Glasgow Herald were tear sheets in #banksy ‘s image bank? @originaIbanksy #feminism #womenartists #visiblewomen #cartoons #glasgow #toronto #TIFF #TIFF18 pic.twitter.com/vOftoOp1lK
— Cinders McLeod (@cindersmcleod) September 8, 2018
McLeod, who moved to Canada before Banksy became a household name, says that she first noticed the similarities as she attended an exhibition of his work.
“I bought tickets to the Toronto Banksy exhibition to go with my daughter”, she explained to The Times.
“At the exhibition I saw five images that bore strong similarities to my illustrations.”
WOMAN BEHIND BANKSY? Posting top 7 images that possibly inspired #banksy – then 9 pages that suggest? that my work in the Glasgow Herald were tear sheets in his image bank? @originaIbanksy #feminism #womenartists #visiblewomen #feminist #cartoons #glasgow #toronto #TIFF #TIFF18 pic.twitter.com/5027TSWce4
— Cinders McLeod (@cindersmcleod) September 8, 2018
“After some research, I found another 11 ideas, in varying degrees of similarity, but enough to make me wonder if my work had been tear sheets in Banksy’s image bank, and believe that I had heavily influenced a lot of his early work.|”
She also explained how Think Tank bears a striking resemblance to her own Deep Sea Lovers, which first emerged in the Herald in March 1997.
“After I did some research and saw the Blur CD cover, I went from being flattered that we thought alike to feeling uncredited,” she said. “The Blur album cover was a commercial enterprise and my drawing was its inspiration. I’m all for sharing ideas but it’s one thing to steal from dead, wealthy, male artists, and another to pinch from living and struggling, political women and mother artists, and not give them credit.”
Banksy is yet to respond to the claims.
Meanwhile, a European art collector yesterday confirmed she will play $1.1 million for Banksy’s self destructing painting. A print of the iconic ‘Girl with Balloon’ painting from 2006 shredded itself only moments after going under the hammer at Sotheby’s Auction House in London last Friday.
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