What do Banksy's new 'animal' works mean?

Two new art works by elusive street artist Banksy have appeared in London. The first one represents a goat perched on a ledge as rocks fall, with a real-life CCTV camera contributing to the story told by the piece. As the artist did not caption the work on his Instagram account, fans are offering their interesting takes on it, commenting for example on the role of the media in portraying crises.

Two elephants are looking at each other, without quite reaching out to touch each other. This second animal-themed work, which also appeared in London and was claimed by Banksy on August 6, has been interpreted by some fans as a take on "elephants in the room" — controversial issues that are avoided. Some apply the allegory to the current wars, others to social disconnects between generations.

A figure holding a pressure hose is depicted standing next to a real tree; green paint has been sprayed all over the wall, serving as a replacement for the missing leaves of the tree, which has been severely cropped. This mural appeared in March on a building in Finsbury Park, London. The elusive graffiti artist Banksy confirmed on his Instagram account that he was the author of the work.

Two days after the mural was first spotted, it was defaced by vandals. Splashes of white paint now cover part of the artwork, and at least one piece appears to have been torn off. A security fence was erected to protect it. Crowds nevertheless gathered to take photos.

This work by Banksy, created in the eastern English coastal town of Lowestoft, has been removed. The street artist sprayed the bird on a house in August 2021. Since the building is privately owned, the council has not been able to intervene. But a spokesperson expressed disappointment: "The artwork has been a draw to tourists and a talking point for Lowestoft on the national stage."

In 2023, the street artist painted an image of a young boy and a cat on the wall of a dilapidated farmhouse in the county of Kent in southeastern England. Neither the owners nor the workers were aware of this when the building was demolished. But then Banksy posted photos on his Instagram account. "It made me feel sick realizing it was a Banksy," said one of the contractors.

On Valentine's Day, 2023, Bansky created a work depicting a stereotypical 1950s "housewife" as a victim of domestic violence fighting back. Wearing a pinafore and yellow washing-up gloves, the woman with a swollen eye and a missing tooth shoves her male partner into a chest freezer. The work appeared on a wall in the city of Margate in Kent.

This mural is named after a town near Kyiv that was severely damaged in the early days after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and occupied by Russian forces until April of the same year. Posted to Instagram in November 2022, the work depicts a young gymnast performing a handstand on chunks of broken masonry on the cracked concrete wall of a damaged building.

This artwork appeared on a wall in a park in Lowestoft, England, on August 7, 2021. While it was quickly believed to be a new work by Banksy, the elusive street artist only confirmed a week later through an Instagram post that he was responsible for it, as well as for a series of new works in different English coastal towns, which he dubbed "A Great British Spraycation."

Banksy funded a boat to rescue refugees trying to cross from North Africa to Europe. The Louise Michel, named after a 19th-century French feminist anarchist, is covered with pink paint and the street artist's graffiti. According to The Guardian, 89 people were rescued in one day in 2020. Since the beginning of that same year, at least 500 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean.

A vigil candle sets fire to the US flag: In June 2020, Banksy revealed on Instagram a painting commenting on George Floyd's killing and honoring the Black Lives Matter movement. "People of color are being failed by the system. The white system," the artist wrote. "This is a white problem. And if white people don't fix it, someone will have to come upstairs and kick the door in."

Spiderman and Batman are yesterday's superheroes: This little boy prefers to play with a nurse wearing a face mask and a cape. With this picture, revealed at the beginning of May 2020, Banksy paid tribute to the outstanding contribution of doctors, nurses and hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2019, Banksy posted a video showing his mural of reindeer taking off — but instead of Santa's sleigh in tow, it's a man lying on a bench, to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. "God bless Birmingham," the artist wrote. "In the 20 minutes, we filmed Ryan on this bench, passersby gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter — without him ever asking for anything."

In 2009, the elusive street artist created "Devolved Parliament," featuring chimps instead of politicians in the British Parliament. Amid the chaos caused by Brexit, the work embodies the country's political atmosphere. The 2.8-by-4.5-meter (around 9-by-15-foot) painting was auctioned off in London in October 2019 for £9.8 million (around €11 million or $12 million).

The millions of pounds that "Devolved Parliament" reaped in October 2019 also sparked criticism, with no information about the buyer provided. In the same month, Banksy installed an artwork in a closed shop in London as a comment, saying that artworks at auction had become the property of the rich rather than the common property of people.

Banksy is one of the most famous street artists in the world, yet his true identity remains under wraps. Paintings or drawings on paper are rare creations for him. Instead, the British artist sprays most of his works on buildings, walls and demolition ruins. Such street art is usually not for sale.

A recurring theme in Banksy's works is the predatory nature of global capitalism. The artist sprayed this mural at the entrance area of the refugee camp in Calais, France. It depicts the late founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, carrying his now legendary first Mac. Jobs' father was from Syria.

In 2017, Banksy addressed the Brexit debate in the UK with this work. Overnight, it appeared on the wall of a building not far from the ferry port of Dover: It shows a man standing on a ladder trying to remove one of the EU stars with a hammer and chisel. The image has meanwhile disappeared from the wall, which has been whitewashed.

The British street artist has also addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2017, he opened The Walled Off Hotel, a museum and actual hotel in Bethlehem, right next to the controversial Israeli West Bank barrier. Banksy has marked the wall and historic town with several artworks since 2005, drawing many tourists to make "Banksy" tours.

One known fact about Banksy's identity is that the world-famous artist comes from Bristol in southern England. He moved to London at the end of the 1990s and it is there that he began to spray his pictorial messages onto walls. In 2016, he returned to his hometown and left this mural at a primary school.

Banksy has always been a visionary artist. His works have often addressed present and future political problems, such as global warming. He created this message in London in 2009.

Banksy has also criticized media, that jump on the bandwagon of sensationalism with regard to the victims of war and terrorist attacks. This is reflected in this work entitled "Media at war," which, like some of his other works, was not sprayed on the wall of a building but exhibited in a London gallery in 2018.