Courtesy Matt Stannard
In June 2016 elusive UK street artist Banksy painted this mural for students at a primary school in his hometown of Bristol, England. Students had named a house at their school for the artist, who surprised them with the mural when they returned from a holiday break. Here's a look at some other notable Banksy works.
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On January 25, a new mural by street artist Banksy appeared on the French Embassy in London, criticising the French authorities' reported use of teargas in a refugee camp in Calais, France. A riff on the iconic Les Misérables poster, it shows a young girl enveloped by CS gas, crying.
Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
A mural of a weeping woman, painted by the British street artist Banksy, is seen in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Wednesday, April 1. The mural was painted on a door of a house destroyed last summer during the fighting between Israel and Hamas. The owner of the house said he was tricked into selling the door for the equivalent of $175, not realizing the painting was by the famously anonymous artist.
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A Palestinian child stands next to a Banksy mural of a kitten on the remains of a destroyed house in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, in February 2015.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
A child in Beit Hanoun walks past a mural February 2015 that depicts children using an Israeli watchtower as a swing ride.
Courtesy Banksy
A Banksy mural depicting pigeons holding anti-immigration signs was destroyed by the local council in Clacton-on-Sea, England, in October 2014 after the council received complaints that the artwork was offensive.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
A Banksy work appears at a youth center in Bristol, England, in April 2014. Called "Mobile Lovers," it features a couple embracing while checking their cell phones. Members of the youth center took down the piece from a wall on a Bristol street and replaced it with a note saying the work was being held at the club "to prevent vandalism or damage being done." The discovery came shortly after another image believed to be by Banksy surfaced in Cheltenham, England.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
A boy walks past graffiti street art believed to be by Banksy in April 2014. The image depicts men in trench coats and dark glasses holding old-fashioned listening equipment -- apparently a commentary on government surveillance. The artwork appeared on the side of a house in Cheltenham near the Government Communications Headquarters, the UK equivalent of the National Security Agency.
Courtesy Banksy
A set of balloons that reads "BANKSY!" is seen off the Long Island Expressway in Queens, New York, in October 2013. Banksy artwork appeared all over New York that month.
Courtesy Banksy
Banksy also offered up a T-shirt design on his website for fans to download and print on their own.
Courtesy Banksy
A leopard placed on the wall of New York's Yankee Stadium was revealed in October 2013.
Courtesy Banksy
"The Banality of the Banality of Evil" actually started out as a thrift store painting in New York City. Once altered by Banksy, who inserted an image of a Nazi officer sitting on a bench, it was re-donated to the store in October 2013, according to the artist's site.
Jason Szenes/EPA/Landov
Banksy's art exhibit "Grim Reaper Bumper Car" sits on New York's Lower East Side in October 2013. The famously anonymous artist, whose paintings regularly go for six figures at auction houses around the world, said he was on a "residency on the streets of New York."
Joy Scheller/Barcroft Media /Landov
A Banksy piece covers the main entrance to Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in New York's Hell's Kitchen in October 2013.
UPI/John Angelillo /LANDOV
Banksy's replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza was made in Queens out of smashed cinder blocks.
Joy Scheller/Barcroft Media/Landov
Banksy's "Ghetto 4 Life" appeared in the Bronx in October 2013. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested that Banksy was breaking the law with his guerrilla art exhibits, but the New York Police Department denied it was actively searching for him.
Joy Scheller/Barcroft Media /Landov
Banksy art is seen on the Upper West Side of New York in October 2013.
JUSTIN LANE /LANDOV
Banksy work in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, was vandalized in broad daylight in October 2013.
Erik Pendzich/Rex USA
One of Banksy's pieces is this fiberglass sculpture of Ronald McDonald having his shoes shined in front of a Bronx McDonald's.
Daniel Pierce Wright/Getty Images
Graffiti depicting the Twin Towers popped up in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York in October 2013.
ANDREW GOMBERT/EPA/Landov
Banksy's "Sirens of the Lambs" art installation tours the streets of Manhattan in October 2013. It was a fake slaughterhouse delivery truck full of stuffed animals.
JASON SZENES/EPA/Landov
Banksy's "Concrete Confessional" is seen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
JASON SZENES/EPA/LANDOV
A Banksy mural is seen on a wall in Queens. The quote is from the movie "Gladiator." It says, "What we do in life echoes in eternity."
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
A woman poses with Banksy's painting of a heart-shaped balloon covered in bandages. The piece, in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, was defaced with red spray paint shortly after it was completed.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
A Banksy mural of a dog urinating on a fire hydrant draws attention
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
This installation, seen in October 2013, on the Lower East Side of New York, depicts stampeding horses in night-vision goggles. Thought to be a commentary on the Iraq War, it also included an audio soundtrack.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
Gallery assistants adjust Banksy's "Love Is in the Air" ahead of an auction in London in June 2013. The piece was sold for $248,776.
Jason LaVeris/Getty
"The Crayola Shooter" is found in Los Angeles in 2011. It shows a child wielding a machine gun and using crayons for bullets.
GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images
People walk past a Banksy painting of a dog urinating on a wall in Beverly Hills, California, in 2011.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Banksy murals popped up around New Orleans a day before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in 2008.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
A silhouette of a child holding a refrigerator-shaped kite is seen on a wall in New Orleans in 2008.
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Graffiti on the side of a building in New Orleans shows an elderly person in a rocking chair under the banner, "No Loitering," in 2008.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
A scene titled "Chicken Nuggets," from Banksy's "The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill," is seen in New York in 2008.
Dave Etheridge-Barnes/Getty Images
A man walks past a Banksy piece in London in 2006.
Paul Hartnett/PYMCA/Getty
A stenciled image of two policemen kissing is seen in London in 2005.

Story highlights

Elusive street artist Banksy paints mural to say thank you to students

"We're all very excited," deputy head teacher Matt Stannard says

London CNN  — 

When the children of Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol were tasked with naming a school “house” after a local hero, they decided on the famous and elusive street artist Banksy. Little did they expect to return from school holidays Monday to find an original Banksy of their own on an exterior wall of their school, in this city in southwestern England. The mural shows a stick-wielding girl chasing a flaming tire.

02:36 - Source: CNN
Revealing famous street artist Banksy

The artist had been informed of the students’ decision in a letter, “but they heard nothing until this morning,” the school’s deputy head teacher Matt Stannard told CNN on Monday.

Beside the mural Banksy, left a thank you note: “Thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture. If you don’t like it feel free to add stuff, I’m sure the teachers won’t mind,” he wrote. The note was addressed to the caretaker for the attention of the head teacher.

And in the true style of Banksy – who is known for painting graffiti on public walls in secret, without permission – he added: “Remember – it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love Banksy.”

Academic study claims to have unmasked Banksy -- sort of

In Britain, schools divide students in different “houses” with names and colors, bringing together pupils from all grades as a team to compete in sports and other activities and to encourage team spirit.

“I’m absolutely thrilled. We’re all very excited,” said Stannard, who added that the school plans to keep the mural as is instead of having students add to it. The school is now in talks over how best to preserve the mural, he said.

Banksy's first interactive artwork takes aim at French police

Banksy’s work sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but little is known about him, other than that he was born in Bristol, reportedly in 1974. His work is satirical and subversive, and can be found in many corners of the world, from London and New York to Mali and the Palestinian West Bank.

Scientists recently used geographic profiling techniques usually employed to track down serial killers and terrorists to claim the artist is a man name Robin Gunningham, though this has never been confirmed. Others believe his works are done by a team of artists.