A new piece by Banksy was unveiled today at the Royal Courts of Justice, in the heart of London. At first glance, it looks like a version of his Crazy Hippies from Glastonbury 2010. But this time it’s a judge beating a fallen protester with his gavel while the CCTV camera is looking in the other direction. Given the piece’s location—at the UK’s highest court, in the very centre of London, surrounded by surveillance and security—one might suspect that team Banksy was in a rush to complete the work.
The artwork is most likely Banksy’s comment on the mass arrests of 890 non-violent protesters on Saturday, 6 September. BBC did a feature on the piece: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrq0r0y878o
The lighthouse is located in the 7ème Arrondissement district, close to the old port of Marseille. Pictures of the piece have circulated on X since 21 May, but it was not officially confirmed until 3 p.m. on Thursday, 29 May.
The motive is most likely related to the rescue boat MV Louise Michel, which is financed by Banksy and named after French teacher and activist Louise Michel, born on this day in 1830:
As always with Banksy, there are multiple interpretations: it has also been rumoured to be a tribute to the artist known as “Lonely Farmer”, a ‘cult artist’ who recently passed away and had a special relationship with Team Banksy.
In this week’s edition of The Big Issue, Banksy interviews TOX, one of Britain’s most prolific and notorious graffiti artists. In the interview, Banksy explains why he has used TOX on numerous occasions in his street art:
“In several of my paintings I’ve put your tag in the background,” Banksy says to TOX. “I kind of use it to signify ‘generic urban decay, damage and abandonment’. No offence. I guess I should’ve asked beforehand, but is that OK?”
“I don’t mind,” TOX responds. “I always had people saying, ‘Banksy’s using your name, when are you going to call him and cash in, he owes you money,’ and I was like, ‘Nah I don’t care, he stuck me up, I don’t care, let him do it.’ I just cared about painting graffiti and stealing spray paint and being me init.”
This week’s Big Issue is dedicated entirely to graffiti, with TOX’s even more notorious graffiti colleague, 10 Foot, as the temporary editor-in-chief. You can buy the Big Issue here: Big Issue shop.
The Big Issue is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. The Big Issue is one of the UK’s leading social businesses. It exists to offer homeless people or individuals at risk of homelessness the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, thereby helping them reintegrate into mainstream society. It is the world’s most widely circulated street newspaper. Source: Wikipedia
Now we know where all the animals came from. The animal kingdom series obviously has a lot to do with the summer riots in London in the previous weeks. One can discern a stoic approach: nature is the only true force, and when you encounter adversity, face it with resilience, humour, and a charitable spirit.
The second week of the Animal Kingdom series starts with a life-size rhino mounting a Nissan Micra with a cone on the bonnet. Old-school Banksy. This is getting better every day!
The piranhas appeared on Sunday morning at a police box near St. Paul’s Cathedral, in the City of London. As expected, Banksy confirmed the piece at 1 p.m. sharp on his Instagram.
The leopard is doing the morning stretch while sharpening the claws on a scratching post. Someone might say it’s a panther, but isn’t the panther just a leopard with black fur?
Anyway, there are quite a few leopards in the Banksy imagery:
Walled Off, canvas
Banksy’s handling office, Pest Control, issued a statement on the meaning of the London series of animals:
“The artist’s vision is simple: the latest street art has been designed to cheer up the public during a period when the news headlines have been bleak, and light has often been harder to spot than shade. Banksy’s hope, it is understood, is that the uplifting works cheer people with a moment of unexpected amusement, as well as to gently underline the human capacity for creative play, rather than for destruction and negativity. Some recent theorising about the deeper significance of each new image has been way too involved, Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, has indicated.”
Banksy confirmed the two pelicans at Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow with British punctuality, 1 p.m. sharp. The novelty of today’s piece is that it’s not monochromatic; they’ve employed a few spray-strokes of white in the pelican beak.
This is the fourth day of some kind of series, and we don’t really know how it’s going to unfold. Very exciting!! Like previous days, it’s a one-colour, one-layer stencil of creatures from the Animal Kingdom trapped in the urban landscape. The timing of the posts is also worth mentioning: it’s always 1 p.m. sharp on his Instagram, @banksy.
Banksy continues his London residency with three graceful monkeys underneath the Overground bridge at Brick Lane, not far from the Truman Brewery Markets.
Banksy unofficial 