is this the face of Banksy?

Recently, the elusive Mr B. once again updated the "outdoors" section of his website. The last time he did this, we here in Chicago discovered that we had Banksy art in the Windy City. No such luck this time, though pictures were added further documenting the recent spate of Banksy street art that popped up across North America in conjunction with his movie "Exit Through The Gift Shop".

Then there is the picture above. It is posted in the "outdoors" section as well. The photograph next to it on the site shows a masked man sitting for a street portrait in Times Square in front of the Viacom headquarters. It is undoubtedly the same masked person in both the sketch and the photograph. We are led to assume that the sketch is the result of the street sitting. Are we to believe that this is Banksy in the drawing, hiding in plain sight?

Is this tongue in cheek performance art or political statement? Is it a commentary on anonymity or fame or terrorism or simply an homage to Chris Burden's 1971 performance "You'll never see my face in Kansas City"? And if it's not Banksy in the pictures, who is it and what is his connection to the artist? So many questions, and as usual no answers from Banksy.

View the pics for yourself on Banksy's website: banksy.co.uk.
Read about Chris Burden's astounding performance art of the 1970's including "You will never see my face in Kansas City".