Banksy accused of ripping off Blur album artwork

Mysterious graffiti artist Banksy has been accused by a Canadian cartoonist of stealing her designs, including the artwork for Blur’s 2003 album Think Tank.
Cinders McLeod, a former freelance cartoonist with Glasgow Herald produced a series of cartoons for the newspaper from 1997 until 2001 – but moved back to her homeland before Banksy became famous for his politically contentious street art. After watching a TV documentary on the elusive artist and attending an exhibition of his works she was struck by the similarities between her own work – with the Think Tank cover, which features an embrace between a man and a woman wearing antique diving suits, bearing similarities to her 1997 cartoon Deep Sea Lovers.
“I bought tickets to the Toronto Banksy exhibition to go with my daughter,” she told The Scottish Sun. “At the exhibition I saw five images that bore strong similarities to my illustrations, including the Blur CD cover.”
She said that she is angry about the alleged plagiarism of the Blur album artwork as it was created for a commercial project.
“The Blur album cover was a commercial enterprise and my drawing was its inspiration,” she added. “I’m all for sharing ideas, but it’s one thing to steal from dead, wealthy, male artists, and another to pinch from living and struggling, political women and mother artists, and not give them credit.”
Other Banksy works Cinders believe may have been stolen from her include Bomb Hugger, a stencil of a girl clutching a bomb, that sold at auction for $41,100 (£31,200) in 2007.
Banksy expert Craig Williams told the Scottish Sun he was convinced the artist had copied from Cinders’ work, saying: “I’m in no doubt after doing the research and comparison between Banksy and Cinders’ illustrations that in some cases he’s straight up copied the idea.”
The graffiti legend’s representative did not respond to a request for comment.