A new Banksy wall painting in Kent, which appears to have a theme of domestic abuse and fighting violence against women, has been dismantled hours after the elusive artist claimed it as their work. The street artist confirmed they were behind the artwork, which was discovered on the side of a wall in Margate, by sharing a series of photos of the piece on their Instagram on Tuesday.
Titled Valentine’s Day Mascara, the original piece depicted a 1950s housewife wearing a blue pinny and yellow washing-up gloves with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer. The resident of the property where the painting was created, who asked not to be named, told the PA news agency the freezer and other items including a broken garden chair used for the artwork had been removed “very quickly” and put into a truck at midday on Tuesday.
Discussing how she felt about the removal, the tenant said: “I’m absolutely upset because it’s not really nice. It was part of the art, they should be very happy because Margate could get bigger attention, positive attention. Why did they move those parts? It’s just silly.”
