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British street artist Banky's most recent work of political art, "Civilian Air Strike" was revealed in London on Monday.
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
The original version of Banksy's artwork features a red balloon. The print offered to voters in the Bristol area showed a balloon colored like a Union Jack flag.
Elliot Masters
In May, elusive street artist Banksy revealed a new mural. The large-scale painting depicts a worker chipping away at one of the twelve stars on the European Union flag.
Oren Liebermann/ CNN
In March, Banksy revealed a large-scale installation in Bethlehem. Titled the Walled Off Hotel, the interactive artwork features nine guest rooms and a presidential suite.
Oren Liebermann/ CNN
Each room critiques the division between Israel and Palestine, and the hotel looks out to a 30-foot concrete wall, which has been described as the largest canvas in the world.
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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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.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
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.
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
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.
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.
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A stenciled image of two policemen kissing is seen in London in 2005.
CNN  — 

British DJ Goldie might just have spoiled one of modern art’s biggest mysteries: The identity of street artist Banksy. In a podcast discussing the commodification of graffiti, the musician referred to the incognito icon as “Robert,” appearing to confirm popular speculation that the man behind the art is Goldie’s close friend and Massive Attack band member, Robert Del Naja.

01:18 - Source: CNN
Banksy takes aim at French police aggression

Del Naja, one of the founding members of the trip hop group, is himself an acclaimed graffiti artist, one whom Banksy has claimed to take inspiration from in the past.

The clandestine nature of Banksy is in stark contrast to the global acclaim of the graffiti artist’s street work. Based in London, Banksy boasts a worldwide portfolio, featuring murals infused with provocative politics.

From corruption to war to revolution, Banksy applies artistic license to inject a hint of irony, even comedy, into his artistic statements on international affairs.

In March of this year, the artist opened an elaborate boutique art hotel in Bethlehem, West Bank, where ornate décor brought life to lavish murals. An impartial haven in a polarized region, the site was meant to empower and inform a conversation where art is the universal language. That seems to be Banksy’s theme no matter where his work is found.

01:53 - Source: CNN
New Banksy 'Dismaland' theme park launch

In 2015, the performer opened “Dismaland,” an abandoned, dismal dystopia in southwest England, where a burnt Minnie Mouse billboard and crashed Cinderella carriage are just a couple of the grim takes on the classic childhood amusement park.

Banksy’s mysterious career, spanning two decades, may lose part of its intrigue if the artist, or artists, behind him were to ever be confirmed. Indeed, he’s taken extreme care to maintain his anonymity. Perhaps that’s why Goldie immediately paused and dropped the subject so suddenly after the name drop.

Goldie and Del Naja collaborated on graffiti art in the 80s, before Del Naja went on to form Massive Attack. The band has since won numerous awards for its work, plus two spots in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Last year, an investigative journalist justified the suspicion behind Del Naja’s involvement with Banksy, noting many of the artist’s work appeared in locations and dates aligning with Massive Attack’s tour schedule. Del Naja has denied ties to Banksy in the past.