Banksy Claims New Fish Artwork on Central London Police Box

Banksy has confirmed his involvement in a new swimming fish artwork that has appeared on a police sentry box in the City of London. This marks the seventh animal-themed piece the elusive street artist has unveiled this week by posting a photo of the artworks to his Instagram at 1pm.

The artist seems to have used translucent spray paint on the glass windows to craft the design, transforming the sentry box into what appears to be a giant fish tank. This piece stands out from Banksy’s previous dark silhouette images of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, and a cat, which have emerged at various locations across London since Monday.

The governing body of the City of London is now considering options to “preserve” the new artwork after Banksy confirmed it was his. This confirmation came through an uncaptioned Instagram post showing a police officer capturing a photo of the artwork.

A City of London Corporation spokesperson told the PA news agency: “We’re aware of the works on the City of London police box on Ludgate Hill. We are currently working through options to preserve the artwork.”

On Sunday afternoon, a man wearing a City of London high-visibility vest was seen taking pictures of the artwork. After its appearance, two City of London police officers arrived to inspect the piece. The force mentioned that it was liaising with the City of London Corporation regarding the artwork’s future.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Spooner, of the City of London Police, stated: “We are aware of criminal damage to a City of London Police box in Ludgate Hill. We are liaising with the City of London Corporation who own the police box.”

Following Banksy’s confirmation, a small crowd gathered to view the artwork. A City of London Police officer was stationed to keep watch over the police box.

Photographer Avi Yasitli, 63, who has observed almost all of Banksy’s animal-themed pieces this week, believes the artworks convey that the city has “turned into a zoo.”

Artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan, whose paintings include most of Banksy’s pieces from this week, called the new collection “really uplifting for people in London at the moment.” He added, “There’s a buzz around his work. It’s nice to capture that as I do the people as well.”

Lloyd-Morgan emphasized that the artwork’s environment itself becomes a work of art – how people interact with it, or even if it gets stolen or removed, is part of the experience.

A local resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, visited the site because she wanted to see the artwork before anything happened to it. She commented, “I walked up here yesterday and I don’t remember seeing it. I think I would have noticed it. I like it; it’s got a charm to it somehow. It’s not in your face, it’s quite subtle.”

On Saturday, the sixth piece – a stretching cat on an empty, distressed advertising billboard – was removed from its location in northwest London mere hours after it was unveiled.

Crowds booed as the piece in Cricklewood was dismantled by three men claiming to be “hired” by a “contracting company” for safety reasons.

One contractor, known only as Marc, informed the PA agency that the board was initially set to be removed on Monday, but the schedule was moved forward to prevent any potential damage.

An officer at the scene mentioned that the billboard’s owner plans to donate the artwork to an art gallery.

This cat design was the second piece to be taken down within the week, following the removal of a painting of a howling wolf on a satellite dish from a shop roof in Peckham, south London, less than an hour after its unveiling.

According to a witness, three men were seen removing the wolf painting. When the witness tried to film them, one of the men threw his phone onto a roof.

A spokesperson for Banksy stated that the artist does not endorse the wolf design’s theft and has “no knowledge as to the dish’s current whereabouts.”

Banksy commenced this new animal-themed series on Monday with a piece near Kew Bridge in southwest London. It depicted a goat with rocks falling beneath it, just above a CCTV camera.

On Tuesday, silhouettes of two elephants reaching their trunks towards each other appeared on the side of a building in Chelsea, west London.

Following this was a mural of three monkeys swinging underneath a bridge over Brick Lane, near a vintage shop in the bustling east London market area close to Shoreditch High Street.

The fifth piece, showing pelicans snatching fish from a London chip shop sign, emerged in Walthamstow, east London, on Friday.