A street artist claims he painted a graffiti piece attributed to Banksy which sold at auction for £250,000. The artwork, which depicts a rat with a paintbrush next to the words 'Never liked this Banksy', was bought by a collector on a Channel 4 TV show.
The creation once sat beneath a Banksy painting called Love Plane on the wall of a building in Liverpool city centre. Both pieces were cut out and removed in 2016 to be featured in a 'street art gallery' that has not materialised.
An anonymous Merseyside street artist, Silent Bill, told the Liverpool Echo he was behind 'Never liked this Banksy'. "The piece was done in 2013/14 as a tongue-in-cheek homage to Banksy in reference to his earlier 'Never liked the Beatles' piece. It's known within circles in the street art scene that the 'Never liked this Banksy' piece is by me," he said.
