Two new Banksy murals have appeared on the walls of the Barbican Centre in London. Both pieces were confirmed on 17 September on Banksy’s Instagram account. The first piece depicts Banksy’s version of Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump by Basquiat. The second motive is possibly comparing the Basquiat exhibition with the London Eye tourist attraction. Jean-Michel Basquiat started his career as a street artist in New York.
Banksy’s announcement reads:
“Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican – a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls”
Banksy’s take on Brexit comes at a contentious time for European politics: the UK is currently undergoing a general election that will determine the relationship with or without the EU. At the same time, France is deciding on its European future on the other side of the Channel, only 80 km away. Confirmed by Banksy’s Instagram account on 7 May 2017.
Four stencils appeared on 13 December in The Jungle, a Calais refugee camp. Since Dismaland, it’s clear that Banksy’s preferred theme is the refugee situation in Europe.
In February 2015, Banksy published a 2-minute video titled “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination” about his trip to the Gaza Strip. During the visit to Gaza in early 2015, Banksy painted at least four exquisite works, among them a weeping Niobe, and a kitten on the remains of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike. He also did a text-based piece, a quote from Christian philosopher Paolo Freire, of Brazilian origin: “If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, we side with the powerful; we don’t remain neutral. ”
In his own words, in a statement to the New York Times:
“I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website — but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens . I don’t want to take sides. But when you see entire suburban neighborhoods reduced to rubble with no hope of a future — what you’re really looking at is a vast outdoor recruitment center for terrorists. And we should probably address this for all our sakes.”
“Gaza is often described as ‘the world’s largest open air prison’ because no-one is allowed to enter or leave. But that seems a bit unfair to prisons – they don’t have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day.”
Greek goddess Niobe, weeping for her dead offspring
“A local man came up and said ‘Please – what does this mean?’ I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website – but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.”
After frenetic activity in previous years, Banksy slowed down in 2014. Six works are documented, all in the UK, and only one in London! One can assume that the Banksy team was preparing for 2015.
On 1 October 2013, Banksy began a one-month residency on the streets of New York. Team Banksy produced one street art piece in different locations daily for the rest of the month. Chronological sequence, from 1 to 31 October:
Grim Reaper at Better Out in New York
Banksy published a film clip where he summarised his New York residency:
Source: Banksyfilm / Youtube
The New York Times published a map of the street art pieces:
Of historical interest is the feud between Robbo and Banksy. The feud started in 2009 when Banksy painted over one of King Robbo’s tags in Camden. The initial tag was sprayed in 1985 underneath the British Transport Police quarters. The feud continued until King Robbo had a serious accident in 2011, leaving him in a vegetative state until he died in 2014. His real name was John Robertson. The following sequence is a tribute to Robbo, as it appeared on Banksy’s website in 2012:
After spending some months in the US in the first half of 2011, Banksy returned to the UK for the summer—one piece in Liverpool, maybe two in Bristol, the rest in London.
Banksy unofficial 