What do the nine new Banksy pieces mean? We look at the clues (2024)

A goat precariously balancing on a pillar with rocks falling below it. Two elephants poking their heads out of blocked windows.

Three monkeys swinging along on a bridge. A lone wolf howling at the sky. Two pelicans eating fish above a fish bar. A cat doing a big stretch.

A school of piranhas on a police box. A rhinoceros mounting a car. Now a gorilla freeing animals at London Zoo.

These are the nine Banksy works that have so far appeared in London just this week.

But what is the reason behind the elusive Banksy’s latest spurt of creative talent across different parts of the capital?

Paul Gough is an expert on Banksy and is a professor and vice chancellor at Arts University Bournemouth.

He revealed to Metro.co.uk that the mysterious artist could be working towards something significant.

What is Banksy’s grand plan?

‘Banksy is working towards a grand reveal or a big piece in the coming days,’ said Paul said, a regular Banksy commentator accused of being the elusive artist in a viral TikTok video that garnered two million views in 2022.

‘What’s different this time is that Banksy usually leaves it a bit of time, keeps people guessing whether a piece of work is authentically his.

‘This time he is confirming it is his work straightaway, something we have not ever seen before.

‘The question I think is how long can he sustain this both on a creative level and on a level which keeps his audience interested.’

While Banksy hosted a month-long residency in New York City in 2013 in which he produced one street art piece in a different part of the city each day in October, this was advertised beforehand.

What do we know about the nine Banksy pieces so far?

The difference with these pieces in London this week is they are being announced straight away by the artist.

The first work on Monday shows a mountain goat precariously balancing on a pillar as rocks fall below it on Kew Green in Richmond, southwest London.

The second shows two elephants poking their heads out of blocked-out windows on Esther Terrace, Chelsea, west London and the third shows three monkeys swinging along a bridge on Brick Lane in east London.

A lone wolf appeared on Rye Lane in Peckham, southeast London, on Thursday before being stolen just an hour later.

A fifth appeared in Walthamstow, showing two pelicans eating fish above Bonners Fish Bar on Northcote Road, on Friday.

Then a cat on a dilapidated billboard, overgrown with leaves, popped up on Edgware Road in Cricklewood, northwest London on Saturday.

In a break from silhouettes, Banksy decorated the windows of a City of London Police box with a swimming school of piranhas on Ludgate Hill on Sunday.

The City of London Corporation has since removed the box for safekeeping while it settles on a permanent home for the artwork.

Monday morning saw the arrival of a rhinoceros mounting a parked car on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London.

Then a painting of a gorilla freeing animals at London Zoo appeared on Tuesday morning, with Banksy’s confirmation following unexpectedly soon after.

As was the case every day this week, Banksy confirmed the artwork’s legitimacy on his official Instagram just after 1pm.

Paul said: ‘A pattern is emerging underneath all this. Banksy certainly has used animals in his work in the past but the difference is these have often been creatures like rats or chimps.

‘The animals used so far seem rather benign, quite innocent to the world bar the wolf, certainly a change from his previous work.’

The meaning behind Banksy’s latest work

Desperate for an explanation, at least one person has speculated the artworks may be a commentary on immigration and refugees.

Another claimed it was about Brexit, with the cat painted on a billboard because billboards carried the ‘£350million for the NHS promise during the campaign’.

Writing under Banksy’s Instagram post, they said: ‘The cat out of the bag meaning the truth about Brexit.

‘The cats symbolised scratching of a billboard that’s gone to wrack and ruin with the messages on it long gone.’

Paul told Metro he believes Banksy has been inspired to create this latest work because of the state of the world right now.

He said: ‘Although there is so much going on, it is hard to pinpoint what he is specifically referring to at the moment.

‘This is why I think he is working towards a bigger, almost sting in the tail reveal perhaps, which will aid our understanding of the world around us right now.’

However, people may be overthinking the meaning, Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, suggested.

Instead, Banksy’s aim might be to cheer people up with ‘unexpected amusem*nt’ amid bleak news headlines, The Observer reported on Saturday.

Does the geography of the Banksy pieces matter?

So far as we know right now it doesn’t seem to matter, but that could all change.

Banksy has been known to create other art series and campaigns in August in specific geographical areas of the UK in the past.

One of the most famous was his Spraycation series across areas on the east coast of England in August 2021.

But it took Banksy a while to officially verify these ten pieces of work across towns including Cromer, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Oulton Broad.

‘Because the mystery has been taken out of the different works this time around, I believe this is evidence he is working towards something bigger,’ Paul said.

‘I don’t think the locations are necessarily too important but they do all seem high up or in difficult-to-reach places.

‘One thing is certain, Banksy works by his own rules and we are all dancing to his tune.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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