Never-before-seen photos believed to show Banksy emerge ‘showing the elusive artist creating his biggest artwork long before he was famous’

Never-before-seen photos have emerged showing Banksy painting his greatest work of art ever, created long before he became a household name.

The elusive artist painted the side of a 17-ton circus truck at a party near Malaga, Spain in 2000 while he was still ‘under the radar’.

The vehicle became known as The Turbozone Truck and was later auctioned with a guide price of £1 million to £1.5 million after being authenticated by his studio.

Now photos have emerged of a painter, believed to be Banksy, working on the graffiti after they were rediscovered by a fellow partygoer who says he spoke to the artist at the time.

The photographer – who wishes to remain anonymous – took the photos around 6am on New Year’s Day in 2000, after a party in the Alpujarras mountains in southern Spain.

The artwork was officially called ‘The Turbozone Truck (Laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge)’ and is considered the largest work ever created by Banksy.

The photographer said: ‘I used to spend a lot of time in Bristol. Our friends told us about this party going on in Spain and we thought, why not?

‘At the time we were very aware of Banksy’s stuff when it emerged, but he was still quite under the radar.

‘Then we were at the party and we saw a man painting. All three of us turned around and said it had to be Banksy!

‘Little did we know that he would become one of the most famous artists in the world.’

The photographer says he approached the man and asked him if he was the mysterious street artist, and says the man confirmed he was Banksy.

He said: ‘It wasn’t really a conversation – I remember us saying we’d seen some of his work in Bristol, as I remember he had flown over from Bristol.’

The artwork was officially called ‘The Turbozone Truck (Laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge)’ and is considered the largest work Banksy has ever created.

The photographer says he approached the man and asked him if he was the mysterious street artist. He says the man confirmed he was Banksy

In 2019 it was auctioned with a guide price of £1.5 million, but failed to sell.

The truck carrying Banksy’s artwork traveled for years through Europe and even South America as part of the transport for Turbozone’s Cinderella show.

It also appears in Banksy’s official book Wall and Piece, which was published in 2006 and authenticated by the artist through his studio, Pest Control.

Despite the resurfaced images claiming to clearly show Banksy a painter at work, the mystery artist’s face is still hidden.

The mystery surrounding his identity remains despite investigations claiming to have unmasked him.

The latest theory has fans left disappointed after a man photographed outside a new mural on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London, turned out to be 67-year-old George Giorgiou.

The retired builder was initially believed to be Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy from Bristol whose link to Banksy was first revealed by a Mail On Sunday investigation in 2008.