Sign and bird cage left at gallery may be from Banksy

EDINBURGH’S guerilla artists appear to have struck again, but there’s no sign of them singing like a canary.

In a bizarre series of events, the owner of a soon-to-be opened Bruntsfield gallery says a mysterious cast iron sign has appeared outside, quickly followed the day after by the arrival of two birds in a cage.

It may seem like the perfect – if slightly extravagant – publicity stunt but owner Myles McCormick insists he is as stumped as anyone.

And for an added twist, the sign which appeared reads “Banksy of Scotland: Est 1995”, leading Mr McCormick to believe it may be the famous reclusive urban artist.

Banksy representatives have, however, denied any knowledge to the Evening News.

Mr McCormick, who says he is about to open Masterpiece Fine Art on Bruntsfield Place, said: “My builder rang to say the signmakers had messed up hanging a new sign outside but when I called them they hadn’t even completed work on it.

“Then the penny dropped. In a recent conversation with Banksy’s agent, she became excited about a Chinese contemporary art exhibition I’m putting together here in August. She hinted that she had ‘a plan’. Well I think the plan, all 100kg of it, is now sat by my desk.”

A copy of Banksy’s documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop was also shoved through the letterbox with a marking reading “Bank of Do’Lan”, a Chinese artist whose work Mr McCormick is about to stock.

Then Mr McCormick said he received a pair of canaries in a cage the following morning.

He said: “I don’t know what to make of it. The symbolism and implication isn’t lost on me.”

n Do you know who is behind the artworks? Contact the Evening News on 0131 6208733.