Banksy confirms seventh piece of artwork on London police box
Banksy has confirmed he has painted a seventh piece of artwork on a London police box.
The elusive artist took to Instagram to show off his latest piece of fish swimming on the glass-fronted box on Ludgate Hill, which appeared overnight, near The Old Bailey and St Paul’s Cathedral.
Over the course of the week, seven different animal-based images have appeared across the capital, each one claimed by the enigmatic Bristol-based artist.
It began on Monday (August 5) with a stencilled goat mural perching precariously on a ledge in Richmond, followed on Tuesday by two elephants almost touching trunks outside windows in Chelsea.
Wednesday saw the arrival of three monkeys swinging from a bridge in Shoreditch, while on Thursday a wolf howling at the moon from a satellite dish in Peckham was almost immediately stolen.
On Friday, a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow suddenly had two pelicans eating fish outside it, and yesterday, a stretching cat appeared on a wooden advertising hoarding on Edgware Road.
Unlike his previous work, Banksy’s latest piece does not feature black silhouette pictures.
Police said in a statement via BBC News that they were also aware of criminal damage to the police box and were liaising with City of London Corporation which owns it.
The governing body of the City of London added: “We’re aware of the works on the City of London police box on Ludgate Hill. We are currently working through options to preserve the artwork.”
It was reported yesterday (August 10) via Banksy’s support organisation Pest Control Office, that his intention with the project was to bring cheer to the public mood during a time when the country has been subjected to far-right riots, with uplifting and surprising moments of joy or amusement, with an emphasis on humans’ capacity for creativity rather than destruction.
The report adds that the public can expect more new works in the series “for a few days more”.
It follows on from a more politically-motivated intervention from Banksy at this year’s Glastonbury, when a dummy-filled immigrant boat was launched into the crowd during IDLES’ set on the Other Stage, and then again during Little Simz‘s Pyramid stage performance.
The boat was a visual reference to the current migrant crisis, which had become the focal point of then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s immigration policy. The stunt was criticised by then-Home Secretary James Cleverly, who called it “vile”.
In response, Banksy said: “The Homeland Security called my Glastonbury boat ‘vile and unacceptable’ which seemed a bit over the top. The real boat I fund, the MV Louise Michael rescued 17 unaccompanied children from the central med on Monday night. As punishment, the Italian authorities have detained it – which seems vile and unacceptable to me.”
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Damian Jones
NME
