BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP A photograph taken on August 6, 2024 shows a Banksy artwork, depicting elephants, painted on the side of a building in west London.
BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP
A photograph taken on August 6, 2024 shows a Banksy artwork depicting elephants painted on the side of a building in west London.
ART – Banksy is leaving new works of art in his wake. In the space of three days, the elusive street artist has claimed three creations. The latest, discovered this Wednesday, August 7, shows three monkeys swinging on a railway bridge in Brick Lane, a London district known for its markets and bohemian atmosphere.
The first work, discovered on Monday 5 August, depicts an ibex perched on a wall near Kew Bridge, west London. The animal’s silhouette is accompanied by stones appearing to fall from the ledge as a CCTV camera is pointed at it.
BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP New stencil work by Banksy, representing a goat, in Kew Gardens, west London.
BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP
Banksy’s new stencil of a goat in Kew Gardens, west London.
As usual, Banksy claimed authorship of these works by posting photos on his Instagram account. However, he did not write a caption to accompany these three images. Speculations ran wild in the comments of the posts. The artist’s fans were quick to propose various interpretations for these animal creations.
The trio of monkeys has for example been associated with the “monkeys of wisdom”, an illustration of the Asian proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Even if, in Banksy’s work, the monkeys do not cover their eyes, ears or mouths, leaving free rein to interpretations of a hypothetical criticism of contemporary society or human behaviour.
Similarly, some see in the elephant fresco an allusion to the expression “the elephant in the room”which evokes an obvious problem that we prefer to ignore. Others suggest that elephants stretching their trunks towards each other could symbolize a process of healing and reconciliation.
In the absence of any evidence of Banksy, the debate remains open.
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