Every once in a while, the world is shaken up when a new Banksy artwork appears in the streets of whatever city he(?) decides to adorn with his graffiti. After the huge controversy over a particular painting he sold and destroyed right after its sale, the world hadn’t known anything about the artist until this week, when a new work appeared on the walls of a garage in Port Talbot, Wales.
On one wall, there is a boy standing next to a sleigh, playing in the snow as it falls from the sky. Quite innocent, right? Not really. On the neighboring wall, there’s a huge bin on fire, and the ashes coming from it are actually the “snow” the boy is trying to catch on his tongue. The artwork is considered to be a critique of the city’s high pollution rates.
After almost a day of speculation, with locals and people on the internet trying to determine if the graffiti was really a Banksy artwork, the anonymous artist confirmed his authorship through his Instagram account with a video of the artwork and the caption “Season’s greetings” with his characteristic irony and sarcasm. For hours, people were really determined to prove the authenticity of the piece by comparing it to an old Banksy sketch.
Ian Lewis, the garage’s owner, spent the whole night watching the artwork to protect it from being vandalized and claimed that he was “very pleased. I think it is a smashing bit of artwork. It is good for the town and I just want to protect it, and it is here for everybody.” The garage turned out to be the perfect canvas, since you can see the strong image on the walls and the industrial furnaces and chimneys in the back.
All in all, locals have been loving the new artwork, even though it criticizes the small steel town. According to the World Health Organization, Port Talbot was the most polluted place in the UK, and even though they apologized later, claiming they had gotten the numbers wrong, it is still one of the most polluted in the UK. Earlier in July, the streets of Talbot were all covered with dust from the steelworks, which many suggest was the biggest inspiration for the work. Both the city council and the locals believe this is a great asset for the town and wish the message is loud and clear: something needs to be done about the pollution situation.
Some people see Banksy as a great contemporary artist, while others think he’s nothing more than a scam artist, but in this case, we can all agree that his message is relevant to most of the world. Satirical works like this one should keep pushing our governments and people, in general, to make a change in the way we treat the planet.
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If you want to read more about Banksy, take a look at these:
How Banksy’s Recent Stunt Made Him Part Of The Institution He Hates
What’s Behind The New Banksy Works Discovered In Paris?
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