Legendary graffiti artist Banksy has unveiled a mural in New York to show support for a Turkish artist who was jailed for three years over a painting.
Zehra Dogan was reportedly imprisoned last year for her painting which depicted the remains of a vastly damaged Turkish city.
Banksy’s mural is a powerful reflection of the time she has spent behind bars, with a wall of black tally marks representing both jail bars and the duration of her imprisonment so far.
A painting of Dogan’s face is also seen behind one set of the bars.
“I really feel for her, I’ve painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence,” Banksy said in a statement to the New York Times.
Posting the photo on Instagram, he wrote: “Sentenced to nearly three years in jail for painting a single picture.”
Banksy’s identity still remains an ever elusive mystery, although many believe that he could be Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, after Goldie reportedly let slip during an interview last year.
Speaking to Scroobius Pip for his Distraction Pieces podcast, the legendary DJ can be heard referring to Banksy as “Rob” (or “Robert”, as some listeners appear to hear).
He said: “For something like graffiti, which has inspired the world with font or anything to do with anyone wearing a baseball cap and fucking sneakers, at its centre it is still misunderstood. But give me a bubble letter and put it on a t-shirt and write ‘Banksy’ on it and we’re sorted… We can sell it now.”