The work was in the gallery for more than a day before anyone noticed
A piece of AI-generated artwork placed without permission in Bristol Museum and Art Gallery by controversial artist Elias Marrow, May 7, 2026(Image: Lindsey Davies)
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery has become the latest to be targeted by a controversial AI guerilla artist who travels Europe placing his work into prestigious art galleries.
As well as producing regular work, the artist, known as Elias Marrow, adopted Banksy’s tactic of secretly putting up works of art into galleries, complete with a description, and waiting for anyone to notice.
Earlier this week, Marrow – again inspired by Banksy – created an AI work of art depicting seven men holding different national flags that have gone across their faces, stepping blindly into a large abyss.
The work was a riff on Banksy’s latest work of art, a huge sculpture that he dropped into a public square in Westminster, close to Trafalgar Square and Downing Street.
But Elias Morrow’s work, which he called Terminal Alignment, was framed and placed on an empty section of wall in Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, and went undiscovered for at least a day and a half, before it was taken down earlier today.
READ MORE: Huge new Banksy sculpture draws crowds near Downing StreetREAD MORE: ‘The legend is back’ as Banksy confirms new London sculpture is his work
The AI-generated artwork fails to capture Banksy’s message completely – while Banksy’s statue man is being blinded by the flag he is waving, the AI in Elias Morrow’s work hasn’t managed to replicate that – the seven suited men have their head covered by other material in their flag’s design rather than the flags themselves.
The work was spotted by two friends on Thursday morning who were visiting the gallery with their children. They reported that the information card next to the work of art had a QR code that directed people to Elias Morrow’s website.
One mum said she initially thought she had accidentally discovered a new Banksy. “I think it is a good thing as, after the theft – which shocked me – this is an artist giving to the museum? He did say he was gifting the image to the museum, or did I find a new Banksy?!” said Sara Beckett.
Morrow has a track record of this kind of guerilla art installation – he creates AI versions of classic works of art with modern inserts – like an overflowing wheelie bin in an 18th century landscape painting.
Last month, he placed an AI painting of Henry VIII in a forest with modern loggers clearing the trees behind him, which was placed in the Tate Britain gallery in London, and remained undiscovered for more than a day.
But his work – and his tactics – are controversial. After one adaptation of a famous painting of a boy with an empty plate was placed unseen in the National Museum in Cardiff last year, his Instagram post about the work was criticised. One said: “You’re not an artist. You’re just someone trying too hard to be edgy”, and another said: “It’s like someone just pressed their arse against the wall and went.”
The curators at Bristol’s Museum and Art Gallery, which is run by Bristol City Council, declined to comment on the latest invasion, and Bristol Live understands people putting works of their own art up in the gallery is a more common phenomenon than they would like it to be.
