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Banksy’s identity has long been one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 21st century, and now we may have another clue.
The elusive artist has revealed a new piece of art on the side of a building in Kew Green, Richmond, showing a goat appearing to teeter on the edge of a column.
As ever, the meaning of the work is subject to great debate, but as a twist in the tail the Independent has obtained exclusive images showing two men at the site of the work before it was unveiled on Monday morning.
The pair, sporting high-vis and hard hats, are stood in a cherry picker at the location of the new mural. The images were captured at around 5am, showing a bearded man getting out of a van and activating a hydraulic lifting platform. A second man wearing a large white face mask rises up on the platform.
The street artist, whose identity has never been confirmed, posted the new piece featuring the goat silhouette with rocks falling down below it and a CCTV camera pointed at it, on Instagram. The goat was spray painted onto the side of a bespoke gun factory, Boss & Co., London's oldest gunmaker.
Banksy did not write a caption for the Instagram post causing fans to speculate on the meaning of the artwork.
One user commented on the post: “The goat represents the human race on the precipice, ‘of the edge of extinction’, the jump is not important better to take a few steps backwards.”
Another said: “The CCTV camera surley represents us watching the world crumble around us.”
Crowds have gathered on Kew Bridge to marvel at the new artwork.
Banksy also unveiled another new artwork in London depicting two elephants poking their heads out of blocked out windows. He shared a photo of the wall art, which features two elephant silhouettes with their trunks stretched out towards each other, on Instagram on Tuesday.
The artwork is in south-west London near Chelsea and appears to be painted on the side of a house.
The fresh pieces come after Banksy’s migrant boat which was used to crowdsurf at Glastonbury last summer, during performances by Bristol indie punk band Idles and rapper Little Simz. It was described by then-home secretary James Cleverly as “trivialising” small boats crossings and “vile”, but the artist responded saying his reaction was a “a bit over the top”.
In March, the artist created a tree mural in north London, which saw a tree cut back with green paint sprayed behind it to give the impression of foliage.
A stencil of a person holding a pressure hose was also sketched on to the building. The vivid paint colour matched that used by Islington Council for street signs in the area.
