Banksy Returns To Britain With Two Controversial Wall Murals

Banksy

Banksy, the best known of all of the British street artists has been busy at work. He has released his first new mural on his website, since his New York month of art, where he released a piece a day in October. The first depicts two lovers in a dark doorway which is lit by the glow of their mobile phones, as they gaze lovingly into their screens. The location of the painting is currently unclear.

Banksy is also thought to be behind a second artwork which has appeared near GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham. It shows three shadowy figures eavesdropping on a dilapidated call-box. They men are of course wearing standard issue trench-coats, hats and sunglasses looking right out of a 50s B movie.

Banksy is a legendary graffiti artist. His work typically includes satirical social and political commentary, and ranges from murals to sculpture and installation, often playing with the contextual aspects of the work. The artist’s first solo show was held in 2002 at Los Angeles’ 33 1/3 Gallery, and in 2003 he was commissioned to design to cover of Blur’s ThinkTank. Today, Banksy’s work appears internationally; most notably, he painted nine sardonic images on the Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier. In Summer 2009, Banksy took over the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with an exhibition attracting over 300,000 visitors and hour-long queues all the way down the road. Most recently the artist has experimented with film, achieving an Oscar nomination for his documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. Consistently controversial, Banksy is described by some as genius and others as a vandal. Regardless of whether he is inspiring admiration or provoking outrage, his name is one that is well-known around the world.

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