Banksy shop has popped up in Croydon town centre

BY TARA O’CONNOR
Local Democracy Reporter
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

What appears to be a Banksy has popped up in Croydon overnight.

On Tuesday morning crowds gathered on the corner of Church Street and Frith Road to check out the new piece of artwork.

It features what looks like the Union flag stab vest worn by Croydon’s own Stormzy at this year’s Glastonbury festival.

Other parts of the artwork include what looks like traditional children’s toys but in fact represent refugees.

The artwork, in an old linen shop underneath Pure Gym, was transformed overnight.

Above the shop are the words Gross Domestic Product, and small information signs in the piece direct viewers to the website grossdomesticproduct.com which just says Gross Domestic Product – the homewares store from Banksy – opening soon.

Outside the former shop were security guards with red ties.

Amber Colman from South Norwood came across the ‘shop’ on the way to meet a friend in the town centre.

She said: “I think it is amazing and it is really fantastic for the area, a lot of people are going to flock here for it.”

Amber said that the piece in Croydon reminds her of Dismaland, Banksy’s dystopian theme park in Weston-super-Mare, created in 2015.

Ben Szutz, an apprentice at the Museum of London, rushed down to the town centre from his home in South Croydon when he heard about the piece of art.

The 24-year-old said: “I think it is absolutely awesome, I’ve been a Banksy fan since I was young.

“I think the front window is the one that hits home the most, we’ve got the figures of refugees.

I think he’s trying to say that the world’s a bit sh*t. “I think it’s amazing for something like this to happen in Croydon.”