Revealed: New mural unveiled on site of Port Talbot Banksy

A new mural on the site of the original Banksy has been revealed in Port Talbot.

The mural titled ‘Speedings Greetings’ is situated on the same garage where Banksy’s original artwork ‘Season’s Greetings’ appeared in December 2018.

As the Banksy artwork gets ready to leave the town next month after more than three years, to be relocated and displayed at a street exhibition in Peterborough, local artist Steve Jenkins has created brand new artwork in the same spot that the famous artist’s work appeared.

The Banksy original has sparked street art boom in the town, which includes the creation of the Port Talbot ArtWalk – a tour of all the local street art works.

Like the original Banksy, Steve’s work carries an environmental message.

“The new piece came about by me hearing that the Banksy piece was due to leave Port Talbot, and the guys from the artwalk project got in touch to see if I could think of anything that could replace it when it goes from the town,” he told Neath Port Talbot Online.

“Although nothing will replace it, I suppose adding more art to some of Port Talbot’s plain walls will cheer the town up and the place has become a hive for street art in the last three years since Banksy painted Seasons Greetings.

“I had a think about the whole corner idea that Banksy had used and thought it might be nice if the design made use of that feature again.

“I thought of taking a trip to Taibach to see if there was anything now painted on the original garage, and there wasn’t.

“With the help of a local friend and councillor, Nigel Hunt. I tracked down the owner of the garage and set about asking him if he would give me permission to do another painting on the famous wall. I shared my idea with him and was delighted when he said yes, you can go for it.”

Steve added: “The message behind this is poking a bit of fun at the pollution signs on the motorway and us having to do 50mph to combat it. I think the majority of people get wound up at peak travelling times when this slow section makes miles of tailbacks.

“The message behind the Banksy art was so strong I wanted the wall to have a similar meaning but to come at it from a different angle. Hope people like it and it brings some smiles.”

Banksy vigil

When the Banksy finally leaves Port Talbot in mid-February, it well end an eventful story that created global interest and put the Welsh town on the street art map.

Following Welsh Government-funded around-the-clock security, the artwork was bought by Banksy collector John Brandler for a six figure sum.

The artwork was then dismantled brick by brick, and moved to a new location in Ty’r Orsaf, a development of commercial units in the town centre where people could view it behind a protective screen.

An evening vigil to say farewell to Season’s Greetings, prior towards its removal, will be held at Ty’r Orsaf at 7pm on Thursday, January 27.