Statue of a man blinded by a flag put up by Banksy in central London
Statue of a man blinded by a flag put up by Banksy in central London
班克西在伦敦市中心竖起一座被旗帜蒙住双眼的男子雕像
The new statue was installed overnight in Waterloo Place. A new statue possibly by the artist Banksy was erected this week in the middle of the night in central London. The artwork depicts a suited man, blinded by the wind-blown flag he is carrying and walking unknowingly off the ledge of a tall pedestal. 这座新雕像于夜间被安置在滑铁卢广场。本周，一座疑似出自艺术家班克西（Banksy）之手的雕像在深夜被竖立在伦敦市中心。这件艺术品描绘了一名身穿西装的男子，他被自己手中随风飘扬的旗帜蒙住了双眼，正不知不觉地从高高的基座边缘走下。
When the sun came up on the statue Wednesday morning, people were quick to note Banksy’s signature scrawled along the base of the statue’s plinth. On Thursday, the artist’s Instagram account posted a video seemingly confirming his involvement—the post includes footage of the statue’s apparent installation, interspersed with cuts to London icons including Big Ben, a statue of Winston Churchill, a black cab and a guardsman soldier. 周三早晨，当阳光照在雕像上时，人们很快注意到雕像底座上潦草地写着班克西的签名。周四，这位艺术家的 Instagram 账号发布了一段视频，似乎证实了他的参与——视频中包含了雕像安装过程的片段，并穿插了伦敦标志性建筑的镜头，包括大本钟、温斯顿·丘吉尔雕像、黑色出租车和皇家卫兵。
“Personally, I think what’s rather clever about it is he’s got the proportions perfectly right for the space,” says Philip Mould, a London-based art dealer whose gallery is near the statue, in an Instagram video of his own. “I also rather like it when art, which is often forgotten, can be controversial, can be stimulating in this way.” “就我个人而言，我认为它巧妙之处在于其比例与空间配合得天衣无缝，”伦敦艺术品经销商菲利普·莫尔德（Philip Mould）在自己发布的 Instagram 视频中说道，他的画廊就在雕像附近。“我也很喜欢这种方式——当艺术往往被遗忘时，它能以这种方式引发争议并带来启发。”
The statue, which Mould speculated is made of fiberglass, shares a similar height and finish to the many others in Waterloo Place. In its vicinity are statues of King Edward VII, who reigned between 1901 and 1910; Florence Nightingale, widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing; the Crimean War Memorial; and several other monuments to military figures, dukes and lords. 莫尔德推测这座雕像由玻璃纤维制成，其高度和质感与滑铁卢广场上的其他雕像相似。在它附近还有爱德华七世（1901年至1910年在位）的雕像、被公认为现代护理学创始人的弗洛伦斯·南丁格尔雕像、克里米亚战争纪念碑，以及其他纪念军事人物、公爵和勋爵的纪念碑。
Authorities on Thursday placed safety barriers around the statue as growing crowds of onlookers gathered. As of May 1, the provocative new installation is still standing, and Reuters’ Paul Sandle reports that London authorities say they don’t plan to remove it. 周四，随着围观群众越来越多，当局在雕像周围设置了安全护栏。截至5月1日，这件充满挑衅意味的新装置艺术依然屹立不倒，路透社记者保罗·桑德尔（Paul Sandle）报道称，伦敦当局表示目前没有拆除它的计划。
“Banksy has a great ability to inspire people from a range of backgrounds to enjoy modern art,” a representative from the office of London Mayor Sadiq Khan tells the New York Times’ Michael Levenson in an email. “His work always draws great interest and debate, and the mayor is hopeful that his latest piece can be preserved for Londoners and visitors to enjoy.” “班克西有一种非凡的能力，能激励不同背景的人去欣赏现代艺术，”伦敦市长萨迪克·汗（Sadiq Khan）办公室的一位代表在给《纽约时报》记者迈克尔·莱文森（Michael Levenson）的电子邮件中表示。“他的作品总是能引起极大的兴趣和讨论，市长希望这件最新的作品能够被保留下来，供伦敦市民和游客欣赏。”
The surprise statue continues Banksy’s recent run of new public art installations. Days before Christmas in 2025, he unveiled two identical black-and-white murals of two children laying on their backs, gazing up, interpreted as a statement on child homelessness. 这座突如其来的雕像延续了班克西近期一系列新的公共艺术装置创作。2025年圣诞节前几天，他曾揭幕了两幅相同的黑白壁画，画中两名儿童仰面躺着向上凝视，这被解读为对儿童无家可归问题的关注。
Still, given the often limited public lifespan of many of Banksy’s past works, some fans of the elusive artist aren’t taking any chances. For example, in September 2025, Banksy painted a mural on the Royal Courts of Justice depicting a judge bludgeoning a protester with a gavel. Authorities swiftly destroyed it. 尽管如此，考虑到班克西过去许多作品在公共场合的寿命往往很短，这位行踪诡秘的艺术家的粉丝们不敢掉以轻心。例如，2025年9月，班克西在皇家法院外墙上绘制了一幅壁画，描绘了一名法官用木槌重击抗议者。当局很快就将其销毁了。
“With Banksy, it’s a limited time event because it’s public art—you don’t know how long it’s going to be up,” Ollie Isaac, a 23-year-old student observing the statue in Waterloo Place, tells BBC News’ Aurelia Foster. “对于班克西的作品，这就像是一场限时活动，因为它是公共艺术——你不知道它能存在多久，”在滑铁卢广场观察雕像的23岁学生奥利·艾萨克（Ollie Isaac）告诉 BBC 新闻的奥雷利亚·福斯特（Aurelia Foster）。
A Reuters investigation published in March aimed to reveal Banksy’s true identity, but the artist declined to confirm or deny details. Statues are a relatively rare medium for Banksy, who is better known for his murals, including his Girl with Balloon series, which debuted in London in 2002. But in 2004, the artist installed in London The Drinker, a satire of Rodin’s famed The Thinker statue, depicting a man sitting in a similar pose as the original but also wearing a traffic cone on his head. 路透社在三月份发表的一项调查旨在揭露班克西的真实身份，但这位艺术家拒绝确认或否认相关细节。雕像对于班克西来说是一种相对罕见的媒介，他更广为人知的是他的壁画作品，包括2002年在伦敦首次亮相的《气球女孩》（Girl with Balloon）系列。但在2004年，这位艺术家曾在伦敦安装了《饮酒者》（The Drinker），这是对罗丹著名雕像《思想者》的讽刺，描绘了一个与原作姿势相似的男子，但头上戴着一个交通锥。