Banksy strikes again with 1950s-style graffiti depicting violence against women in Margate, Kent.
Possibly the most well-known street artist of modern times, Banksy started painting graffiti in the early 1990s in Bristol, England. His works are identified for his stencils and often black and white spray paint to cover walls in street art. His art depicts radical messages of being anti-establishment, anti-war, and anti-capitalist.
But the lure of Banksy is not limited to his artworks but to his true identity. Since he started doing graffiti, his identity has never been settled. Even though he has directed a documentary about his art and opened a shop to sell art merchandise, the public has no idea who Banksy is.
The veil surrounding Banksy’s identity is because street art or graffiti is still illegal in most places. It is why his work as a street artist and his messages challenging societal norms is a double blow.
Because of Banksy’s anonymity, speculations of who he is have been going on for decades. He was said to be Robin Gunningham, a street artist from Bristol who moved to London around the same time as the graffiti moved. Some have said he is Robert Del Naja of the band “Massive Attack”, citing how Banksy has declared he was a huge fan of the band. But maybe the wildest hunch is that Banksy is Neil Buchanan from the kid’s show Art Attack.
Despite his identity never being revealed, Banksy’s body of works speaks for himself in the art world. His art spanned the globe in places like Bristol, London, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Alabama, Melbourne, New York, and even the Gaza Strip in the Middle East.
But because Banksy is anonymous, his art isn’t copyrighted. His popularity had many people selling imitations of his works, and he could do nothing about it. So he instead applied for a trademark, but it was denied.
Nevertheless, Banksy remains active in the art scene and on social media through his official Instagram account.
The confirmation of graffiti in Margate, Kent being Banksy’s work came from his Instagram account on Valentine’s Day. It depicts a 1950s woman with a black eye and missing tooth smiling while a pair of feet, assumed to be her husband’s, sticks out from a freezer. It was captioned “Valentine’s Day Mascara.”
Followers of the artist were quick to praise the graffiti as Banksy’s attempt to call out against violence toward women. The idea of a housewife in the 1950s is widely seen now as a restrictive view of women. And Banksy’s illustration seems to tell a story of a wife being abused who had had enough and retaliated against her husband.
However, the complete picture of Banksy’s latest work is gone just a few hours after the artist posted it on Instagram. The real broken freezer that was part of the art was removed by the government, leaving just a floating pair of feet painted on the wall. There was no comment from the city council or Banksy about the incomplete piece yet.