Banksy’s Mild Mild West is one of the most recognizable images in Bristol: an oversized teddy bear lobbing a Molotov cocktail at a line of riot police. A new mural in the same city has managed to get it wrong. The AI-designed vinyl piece pasted on the side of the Jolly Colliers pub in Bedminster swaps the bear for a one-legged figure pointing, ARTnews reports.
That’s not the only error. The mural’s version of Cabot Tower is off, and the SS Great Britain is dwarfed. Local artists spotted all of it quickly, and the criticism has been loud in a city with an international reputation for street art. Banksy’s own stencils, meanwhile, just landed on the walls of the Lucas Museum in Los Angeles.
Read moreBanksy’s Courthouse Mural, Waterloo Place Statue and Piranha Box Have Cost the U.K. Almost £150,000
The Bristol Mural Collective, a local group of muralists, led the response. “AI designs not only devalue but undermine the work of artists,” Caroline Maggs of the collective told Bristol24/7, adding that the group was “saddened and angered by the Jolly Colliers not choosing to support hand made work.”
In a climate where humans are being replaced by AI at an alarming rate, choosing art like this is not only an aesthetic choice but a political one.
Caroline Maggs, Bristol Mural Collective, to Bristol24/7, ARTnews
An unsigned letter reportedly posted below the mural on Tuesday went further. It called the piece “a disrespectful affront to this city” and noted that hundreds of murals across Bristol were made by talented people with “hard-earned skill and dedication.” The letter has since been removed.
Another collective member, Emily Tuffen, offered a way out. “I would be so happy if someone circled all the mistakes in red paint like a teacher or a spot the difference puzzle,” she said. “That would make it actually a good street art piece and a clear statement.”
The pub’s owner, Punch Pubs & Co, says the mural is a stopgap. “The external wall requires some minor works which would make a permanent mural at this time difficult, so we have opted for a temporary solution,” a spokesperson said, adding that it looks forward to working with local artists on something permanent.
The fight will sound familiar to anyone following music, where Olivia Rodrigo has ruled out AI in her own songs. In Bristol, Punch says it hopes to work with local artists on a permanent piece.
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Added to the High Grailed archive on October 11, 2026.
