The Drinker (Banksy)

The Drinker is a statue by graffiti artist Banksy, not to be confused with the stencil of the same name, a graffiti artwork of a rat drinking a cocktail, on a wall at North Beach, Lowestoft, England.^[1][2]

The Drinker
Artist	Banksy
Year	2004 (2004)
Medium	Metal
Condition	Stolen
Location	London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°31′00″N 0°07′35″W

History

In 2004, the statue was placed, in a small square at Princes Circus, on Shaftesbury Avenue, between New Oxford Street and High Holborn, central London.^[3][4] It is a subversive comment using The Thinker by Auguste Rodin.^[4]

In March 2004,^[5] The Drinker was stolen by "art terrorist", football hooligan^[6] Andy Link, a former porn star,^[6] with an arrest record,^[6] and a record of drug charges,^[6] (also known as AK47).^[7]

Around a year after Link took The Drinker, Link says he registered "the lost and found item" with police, and contacted Banksy, asking for £5,000, or an original canvas, "to cover costs".^[8]

In 2007,^[8] three years after Link stole it, the sculpture was taken from Link's garden,^[9] while he was away.^[4][10]

In December 2015, Link re-installed, as "The Stinker", "an imitation of Banksy's sculpture"^[11] "The Drinker", modified with a toilet seat, cistern, and graffiti, in central London.^[12]

"The Stinker" (2015) was a commissioned work from sculptor Emmanuel Okoro.^[13]

The 2016 crowdfunded documentary (with "dream-reenactment sequence", "amusing artifice"^[14]) film The Banksy Job is about Andy Link and the work.^{[15][16][17][18]}

See also

• List of works by Banksy

Further reading

• "AK47: The porn star turned artist who held Banksy to ransom". Hackney Gazette. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
• Tichy, Anna (1 January 2021). "Banksy: Artist, Prankster, or Both?". NYLS Law Review. 65 (1). New York Law School: 81–103. ISSN 0145-448X. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
• Moriente, David (2017). "De vándalo a artista: Banksy / From Vandal to Artist: Banksy". Anuario del Departamento de Historia y Teoría del Arte. 27 (2015). doi:10.15366/anuario2015.002. hdl:10486/677349.
• The Banquet (GrayScale Productions ) (11 December 2015). "Ak47 Christmas Message - The war is over!". vimeo. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
• Flanagan, Emma (13 December 2015). "Banksy sculpture returned to original spot more than 10 years after heist". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2023.<
• Thompson, Jessie (5 June 2017). "Banksy thief reveals how he stole street artist's work in new film". [Evening Standard]. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
• Andrew Link 'ANDY AK47' (9 October 2012). "LOT 111 - 'LOVE', 'HATE' and 'BE AFRAID' GBP 4,000". LIVE AUCTION 4334. [Christie's]. Retrieved 19 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Panesar, Ranjeet (4 February 2022). "Art exhibition show: 'Pile 'o' Shite' by Andy Link Aka47". London Mums Magazine. Retrieved 19 August 2023.