Banksy’s latest work was coronavirus art on the walls of a Circle Line train on the London Underground. The anonymous artist shared the art on @banksy Instagram on 14 July but the artwork has since been removed by the authories. “If you don’t mask – you don’t get”, he captioned on the instagram video that appears to show him donning a boiler suit, spray painting images of his iconic rats — one sneezing blue droplets without mask, another wearing mask as a parachute and one holding a hand sanitiser.
Banksy spray painted his tag using the colour of a medical face mask. Source: Banksy
The sprayed and stenciled art urging people to wear masks was swiftly removed due to violation of Transport for London’s ‘strict anti-graffiti policy’. Even though it was removed, the spokesperson said that the agency appreciated “the sentiment of encouraging people to wear masks” and that it would like to offer Banksy the opportunity to recreate his message for their customers in a suitable location.
Face masks on public transportation like London Underground have been made compulsory since mid-June. Punishment for not wearing one could result in fines as much as roughly $125.
The video ended with music from the 1997 hit “Tubthumping” by British rock band Chumbawamba. The video shows the opening lyrics “I get lockdown” painted on the platform before the train’s doors close to reveal the next line “but I get up again” inside the train’s door.
Banksy’s artworks have previously been auctioned and sold for millions of dollars. Thus, many have come forward to criticize Transport for London’s decision to remove the graffiti instead of “monetizing it”.
This anonymous artist has also previously painted rats and monkeys on the Underground’s train carriages.
The London Underground also has a long and rich history of working with various artists for commissioned work. Some of the works include a poster by Man Ray in the 1930s to a mural at Tottenham Court Road station by Eduardo Paolozzi in the 1990s. Art on the Underground continues to commission several new works every year by the contemporary artists, be it large scale installations at the stations or updating the cover for the pocket tube maps.
This latest coronavirus-themed artwork was not Banksy’s first pandemic-inspired artwork. This acclaimed anonymous artist has been advocating for better awareness of the coronavirus and ways to combat its spread since April. There was an art piece in Bristol, Girl with a Pierced Eardrum, was updated with a blue surgical mask. Even though the updated artwork was not documented by Banksy himself on social media.
Aside from that, he had painted rats scampering around his bathroom instead of the streets to depict the need to stay at home during the pandemic season.
In May, Banksy released an artwork titled “Game Changer” in Southampton General Hospital to celebrate health workers as superheroes.
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[…] July 2020, he created a coronavirus art on the London Underground train but was quickly removed by the Transport for London […]
