Banksy claims Nottingham hula-hooping girl artwork

image captionThe artwork was not claimed by Banksy for several days

The graffiti artist Banksy has confirmed a piece of art that appeared in Nottingham was created by him.

The work, outside a beauty salon, shows a girl hula-hooping with a bicycle tyre. It went up on Tuesday, next to a bicycle that is missing its back wheel.

Amid speculation over whether the piece was a Banksy, a screen was fitted to it. In an ironic twist, soon afterwards the screen was sprayed with graffiti.

A picture of the work was posted on Banksy's Instagram on Saturday morning.

image captionKlaye, aged four, posed for a photograph next to the the artwork

The salon the artwork appeared outside is on the junction of Rothesay Avenue and Ilkeston Road in Lenton, a popular residential area for students. 

After the announcement, people began arriving to have their photographs taken with the artwork, with about 30 people there at one point, as well as police officers. 

Nicola Marshall, 39, from Clifton, Nottingham, came with her son Klaye to see the work. She said: "It's a bit of positivity with all this coronavirus going on." 

Danial Ahmer, 23, a student who lives in the road, said: "I think it's eye-catching. It was a bit surreal and random to see it here though." 

image captionPolice officers kept an eye on the art fans

Banksy expert Prof Paul Gough, from Arts University Bournemouth - who initially doubted whether it was the real deal - said he was "really pleased" the work was by the artist.

Talking about the meaning behind the artwork, he said: "It is curious. The last four or five [Banksy pieces] have all related to Covid or something in the news. This is much more whimsical and much more of the moment. It is someone enjoying themselves. 

"Perhaps that is the message: 'we are in difficult times, let's try to make the most of it and get some fun out of something which is broken'.

"The hoop is holistic. The circle is a positive and life-affirming. Even with a knackered bicycle, she is finding something she can play with."

He added: "The Nottingham picture is a different kind of [Banksy] painting to what I have seen before. There is less fluidity and a more pixelated effect, especially around the chin and parts of the face."

image captionThe plastic covering protecting the artwork has been defaced twice, but has since been cleaned

Banksy began spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol in the 1990s, and before long was leaving his artistic mark all over the world.

He is famed for poking fun at big companies and sending political messages through his work.