![\"Banksy's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_253559910-88c2-e1748531632356.jpg\")
\n\t\tBansky\u2019s artwork are instantly iconic \u2013 but some are unknown to the public (Picture: Banksy\/Instagram)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tBansky\u2019s artwork are instantly iconic \u2013 but some are unknown to the public (Picture: Banksy\/Instagram)<\/p>\n
A girl holding a balloon, the House of Commons filled with chimpanzees and two police officers kissing.<\/p>\n
Banky\u2019s artworks are famous and adored across the world.<\/p>\n
But now his former manager and \u2018right-hand man\u2019 has revealed the street artist\u2019s pieces which the public know nothing about \u2013 including one in the heart of London<\/a>.<\/p>\n Steve Lazarides, who was Banksy<\/a>\u2019s manager from 1997 to 2008, told Metro<\/strong> about an unknown treasure trove of graffiti in the Swiss Embassy.<\/p>\n \t\t Asked whether there is a Banksy that no one has ever seen, Lazarides said: \u2018Yes, the Swiss Embassy car park.<\/p>\n \u2018The old Swiss ambassador put on a rave in the car park. He invited Banksyand [graffiti artist] Chu. And they smashed it.\u2019<\/p>\n The party was held in 2001 by ambassador Bruno Spinner as part of a bid to shake-up their image.<\/p>\n According to Lazarides, the car park \u2013 which is between Regent\u2019s Park and Hyde Park \u2013 houses \u201910 to 15\u2032 separate Banksy artworks.<\/p>\n These includes pictures of Lenin, the Mona Lisa, and monkeys.<\/p>\n \u2018It was all a bit mad,\u2019 Lazarides said of the little-known event.<\/p>\n That is not the only work by the Bristol<\/a> artist which has gone unnoticed, with a show in the same year turning out to be a complete flop.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\t\tLatest London news\t\t\t<\/p>\n To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s<\/strong> London news hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lazarides told Metro<\/strong>: \u2018We did an exhibition in Glasgow and nobody turned up.<\/p>\n \u2018It show his graffiti and it got badly promoted.\u2019<\/p>\n The display at The Arches, which showcased his art alongside artist Jamie Reid, was called \u2018Peace Is Tough\u2019.<\/p>\n Furious at the no shows, Banksy had a daring response in mind.<\/p>\n Lazarides explained: \u2018He went out the next day and he punished Glasgow.\u2019<\/p>\n The graffitist and left drawings \u2018everywhere\u2019 across the city.<\/p>\n According to an unofficial website chronically Banksy, the exhibition featured images of monkeys firing pistols, a monkey imitating the Queen and more Mona Lisas.<\/p>\n Lazarides spoke to\u00a0Metro\u00a0<\/strong>as he unveiled his collection of photographs and artwork, many from their time together, to collectors at an event hosted by the Grove Gallery.<\/p>\n \t\t The pair, who are both from\u00a0Bristol<\/a>, met in the 1990s when Banksy was doing a feature for the magazine Sleazenation.<\/p>\n Photographer Lazarides then took Banksy\u2019s portrait and a few weeks later got the call to photograph another piece by the now famous graffitist.<\/p>\n The pair then worked together for a decade as Banksy\u2019s fame skyrocketed, with Lazarides snapping everything he did.<\/p>\n The photographer has also told Metro<\/strong> about the moment Banksy was seconds away from being arrested and exposed by police, while spraying the word \u2018boring\u2019 onto the side of the National Theatre<\/a> on the South Bank.<\/p>\n Banky\u2019s art now sells for millions, but Lazarides said some of his stunts have also faded into oblivion.<\/p>\n An example of this is actually one of his most audacious spectacles yet.<\/p>\n In 2004, Banksy secretly planted a 20-foot statue in the middle of Clerkenwell Green in central London.<\/p>\n \t\t The statue depicted the figure of justice as a prostitute with leather boots and a thong<\/p>\n The work, called \u2018Our Lady of Justice\u2019 had a plinth which read: \u2018Trust no-one\u2019.<\/p>\n The photographer said despite the success of the event, it faded out of public memory.<\/p>\n He explained: \u2018It was well attended, there were thousands of people.<\/p>\n \u2018But then it just went away. No one ever really talks about it. It never caught people\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n \u2018But I thought it was one of his best things.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tHow does Banksy make money?\t\t\t<\/p>\n The secretive artist has called commercial success \u2018a mark of failure\u2019 and encouraged people not to buy his work.<\/p>\n But with an estimated net worth of more than \u00a315 million, according to\u00a0MailOnline<\/a>, Banksy must make his bucks somehow.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not from selling his most famous artworks found on outside walls.<\/p>\n When those are up for auction, it\u2019s usually landlords and art dealers who take the profits.<\/p>\n The artist\u2019s piece Love is in the Bin \u2013 which consists of his painting Girl with Balloon partially shredded \u2013 sold for \u00a318.5 million at auction in 2021.<\/p>\n \t\t Banksy instead makes money from selling prints of his iconic pieces, rather than the originals themselves.<\/p>\n These range from unsigned, unnumbered pieces costing \u00a3400 to \u00a3800, to \u00a340,000 or even \u00a3130,000 limited runs, according to Bristol-based artdealer Huw Lougher, industry publication\u00a0Artspace reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Celebrities like Christine Aguilera, Kate Moss and Bono have bought Banksypieces over the years.<\/p>\n Just five years later, Jolie spent another \u00a3200,000 on a Banksy piece at his exhibition in Los Angeles, the\u00a0Evening Standard reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Such exhibitions, which have taken place from LA to London, are another key source of Banksy\u2019s income.<\/p>\n Huge crowds flocked to his hometown for the Banksy v Bristol Museum show in 2009.<\/p>\n Banksy\u2019s most recent artwork got far more attention.<\/p>\n It\u00a0featured a mural of a lighthouse<\/a>\u00a0shining with the words, \u2018I want to be what you saw in me\u2019 printed on it.<\/p>\n Last summer, London went wild when\u00a0Banksy unveiled nine animal-inspired works across the capital.<\/a><\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"Embassy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259378844-3dd2.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Swiss Embassy is home to the artworks (Picture: Google maps)<\/p>\n![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259368334-bf70-e1752849483748.jpg\")
\n\t\tSteve Lazarides said the event was \u2018mad\u2019 (Picture: Grove Gallery)<\/p>\n![\"Platform,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259388012-5c5c.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe unpopular exhibition took place inside The Arches in Glasgow (Picture: Platform \/ Facebook)<\/p>\n![\"LONDON](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259379179-c441.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Clerkenwell Green statue caused a stir but was quickly forgotten (Picture: Graeme Robertson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_196505506-9b25.jpg\")
\n\t\tA Banksy mural appeared at Marble Arch after a two-week Extinction Rebellion campaign in London in 2019 (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn\/Evening Standard via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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