This is a Fake. Supposedly, Banksy used a helicopter to graffiti the famous Jesus statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s a striking image, but I’m calling it a clever photoshop. I scanned the national and regional Brazilian papers and there’s no mention of it. Second, since when has Banksy used a helicopter?? Third, there’s only on one source for this image, something called The Poke. The Poke quotes mayor ‘Romario Valdez.’ The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro is Eduardo Paes. Finally, the quasi-official banksy site has not authenticated. Fake.

archiphile:

BREAKING NEWS: Banksy, the international clandestine graffiti ninja, pulled off his greatest ever stunt last night (June 3), transforming Rio de Janeiro’s ‘Christ the Redeemer’ into a 39.6 metre high statue of Osama Bin Laden.

Hanging from the helicopter as it hovered in front of one of the world’s most famous landmarks, Banksy was able to finish his spray-paint amendments within a couple of hours. The affect is astonishing: Bin Laden’s arms outstretched as if waiting for death, the first bullet hole just appearing in his body.