[imagesource:banksy/instagram]

The art world and Instagram commenters are frantically searching for metaphors after two new Banky artworks appeared in London.

The two new murals appeared within a day of each other on the sides of buildings in southwest London.

Banksy posted the murals to his Instagram account, which depict the silhouette of a mountain goat appearing to hobble atop a protruding ledge on the side of a house in Kew Bridge, and two elephants leaning toward each other from blocked-out windows in Chelsea.

The anonymous British street artist is infamous for his love of political commentary and, in the wake of the recent riots in the UK, everyone is searching for the meaning behind the work. Does it refer to ‘scapegoats’? Or the ‘elephant in the room’?

 

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A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

 

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A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

Banksy’s Instagram posts were flooded with speculation, some believing it might be “an abstract rumination on the human race on the precipice”, or “The endangered Palestinian Mountain Gazelle is the national animal of Palestine, and the world is watching whilst it teeters on the edge. Limited time to save it”.

The goat mural seems to have attracted the most attention with most of the so-called art critics believing it a (not so) veiled attempt to showcase the dodgy situation in the UK at the moment.

“The goat’s precarious position on the edge mirrors the fragile state of U.K. society, teetering on the brink of chaos due to the recent disturbances.”

While the art world searches their kaftans for meaning, Banksy has remained mum, although his art is usually in response to issues that dominate the headlines.

In June he made headlines when he sent an imitation migrant boat crowdsurfing through the audience during performances by punk band Idles at Glastonbury festival. Before that, in 2020, Banksy also funded and decorated his own rescue boat to assist refugees travelling to Europe. The boat was eventually seized by Italian authorities.

 

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So what do the goat and the elephants mean? That would depend on what you see in it, which in a way is what art is supposed to be, innit?

[source:artnet]