A SURFER who left his battered old van with spray paint artists at a festival was stunned when he returned and found its value could have rocketed – because the artwork had been tagged by popular guerilla artist Banksy.
South African Johan Lourens, 25, handed over £100 to a group that were spraying skateboards, shoes, clothing and other items, during the Boardmasters festival in Newquay earlier this month.
After seeing another van being sprayed, Mr Lourens, a self-employed paver, decided he would like to brighten up his own Ford Transit, which he uses for work and surfing trips. He haggled the group, called Upfest, from £200 to £100 for the job.
It was only after the group finished that he realised the top of the vehicle had been tagged by Banksy – and was told that he was a famous artist whose work is collected by the likes of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera.
Now Mr Lourens, who lives in Newquay, says the artist's alleged work is constantly being recognised and he has even had to cover the Banksy name up for fear of the van being stolen.
He said he approached the group when he was at a concert on August 8 and they asked him to bring his van to them the next afternoon.
"I saw them spraying another van and I started chatting to them about it, and said I really want to get my Transit graffitied and they said they could sort it out," he said. "They were called Upfest, the urban paint festival. They had a little stall and they were basically just spraying on T-shirts, skateboard decks and shoes.
"They asked me if I wanted anything particular on my van, and I said they could do what they want – any artist will do it better if it's something they want to do.
"So I left the van and went into town. I think it was a couple of hours. When I got back I thought the van looked pretty sick – pretty amazing. They were still busy.
"When I went back again the one guy asked me about the bonnet the whole time – whether I liked the bonnet. I asked him if he did it and he said he didn't."
When the group finished Mr Lourens said he was very happy with the look, and helped the artists pack up.
"At about 6pm I went to help them pack away their stuff and then one of my friends noticed the word Banksy and we asked the Upfest guy, who I knew as Steve, 'who is Banksy?'. They said 'look on the Internet'.
"One of my friends had heard of Banksy. Later on I found out it was quite a big deal."
Although he could not be 100 per cent sure the artist, who can sell a single work for up to £300,000, had graced his van, Mr Lourens said he was happy to believe it.
"A lot of people have come up and asked me if it was Banksy," he said.
"At the moment I say yes – it's just what I think.
"No-one else is going to put someone else's name on something like this."
He said he thinks Banksy, whose name is on the top right hand of the vehicle, above the windscreen, must have sprayed the masked figures on the front of the vehicle – with other artists doing the sides and back of the van. He added that the man that asked him if he liked the work on the bonnet may fit the mysterious artist's description.
He said: "The guy that actually asked me – I looked at photos of how Banksy looks like and he looks similar.
"He was in his mid-thirties, dark hair. He was a bit shorter then me.
"I did try and get hold of Banksy's people. I e-mailed them but I haven't heard back off them."
Mr Lourens said that he is sometimes afraid to leave the potentially valuable van.
"I really want to drive it because it cost me £100 but people tell me it could be in an art gallery.
"I don't like leaving the van alone – I stay with it most times."
An inquiry to Upfest, who arrange live painting events across the UK, did not seem to shed any further light on the story.
An e-mail from the group stated: "Unfortunately we are unable to shed any light on the so called Banksy van, to our knowledge none of the work on the van was done by Banksy."
They did confirm that there were 10 artists present in Newquay at the Boardmasters surf festival but they could not reveal the artists' real names for "various reasons", as Upfest works with many street artists and "respects their desire for anonymity".
