Bristol street artist Banksy has revealed new street art for Valentine's Day - and it's a comment on Valentine's Day and domestic violence.
The new work has appeared in Margate in Kent, and shows a woman dressed in 1950s-style clothing and cleaning gloves, apparently pushing someone - presumably her husband - into a dumped chest freezer. All you can see is his legs poking out of the end.
Closer inspection of the woman shows she's sporting a black eye - and the third close-up image posted on Banksy's Instagram page is captioned 'Valentine's day mascara'. By midday, part of the artwork had already been removed, reportedly by the local council.
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It's the first work of art the elusive street artist Banksy has claimed since his stint in Ukraine in October and November last year, and the first in Britain since he produced thousands of T-shirts to raise money for the Colston 4 in Bristol as they were being brought to court at the end of December 2021.
The work is classic Banksy - utilising an overturned garden chair and a dumped chest freezer that's already partially open to create the image using the wall behind.
There was speculation on Monday morning when it was first photographed on the side of a house in Grosvenor Place in Margate. Local resident Amy Richardson said she first saw it first thing on Monday morning after a broadband van was driven away from the spot, and it was there behind.
It's not the first time Banksy has created at work in Kent - back in 2017, Banksy created a work which depicted a man on a ladder chipping away at one of the stars on the EU flag, but this was later painted over. The work is Banksy's first on an actual wall in the UK since his 'spraycation' series of artwork in the coastal resorts of Suffolk in August 2021.
It's not the first time Banksy has marked Valentine's Day - back in 2020, he created a work of art that was a new take on one of his classic works, The Girl with the Balloon. This time, on the wall of a house in Barton Hill, Bristol, he showed the girl bursting the balloon with a catapult, which burst to shed rose petals all down the wall.
Read next:
- Banksy confirmed to be in Ukraine after street artwork speculation
- World reacts as Banksy artwork appears in war-torn Ukraine
- The most ridiculous theories about who Banksy is
- Banksy responds to speculation as Stockwood residents spot new framed artwork
- Banksy claims Reading Prison art with Bob Ross video
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