Never-before-seen photos apparently show street artist Banksy unearthed

Never-before-seen photos have emerged of Banksy painting his biggest artwork ever – taken long before he was a household name. The elusive artist painted the side of a 17-tonne circus truck at a party near Malaga in Spain in 2000 – before he became more secretive.

Later called The Turbozone Truck, it was auctioned with a guide price of £1 million to £1.5 million after being authenticated by its studio. Photos of him working on the art have now emerged after being rediscovered by a fellow partygoer who says he spoke to the artist at the time.

The photographer – who wishes to remain anonymous – took the pictures around 6am on New Year’s Day 2000 after a party in the Alpujarras mountains in southern Spain. The photographer said: “I used to spend a lot of time in Bristol.

“Our friends told us about this party going on in Spain and we thought why not? At the time, we were very aware of Banksy’s stuff when it came out, but he was still pretty under the radar.

“Then I was at the party and I saw this guy painting – all three of us turned to each other and said it’s got to be Banksy! I didn’t know he would become one of the most famous artists in the world.”

The photographer then says he approached the man and asked if he was the elusive street artist, and says the man confirmed it was Banksy. He said: “It wasn’t much of a conversation – I remember saying I’d seen some of his work in Bristol, as I recall it was flown in from Bristol.”

The artwork has been officially titled “The Turbozone Truck (laughing now, but one day we’ll be driving)” and is believed to be the largest work ever created by Banksy. In 2019, it was put up for auction with a guide price of £1.5 million, but failed to sell.

Banksy’s artwork truck spent years traveling across Europe and as far as South America as part of the transport for Turbozone’s Cinderella show. It is also featured in Banksy’s official book, Wall and Piece, which was published in 2006 and authenticated by the artist through his studio, Pest Control.