Banksy Confirms Piranhas as His Seventh Animal Artwork in London

A central London glass police box has been transformed to look like a tank filled with piranhas in the latest work by the graffiti artist Banksy. The renowned yet elusive artist claimed this creation by featuring it on his Instagram account in a post made at 1 pm on Sunday.

The depiction of fish on this police box marks a departure from the previous six silhouetted designs that Banksy showcased on successive days last week. One of these designs, which depicted a wolf on a satellite dish, was quickly removed by suspected thieves. Another design, showing a stretching cat on an empty billboard, was taken down by contractors. The piranha design might be a reflection on how the earlier designs have been received and subsequently treated.

Two City of London police officers were seen examining Banksy’s new work, taking pictures of the scene. One officer mentioned to PA Media news agency that they were asked to inspect the installation after it was captured on CCTV cameras. The officers were awaiting further instructions on what action to take regarding the artwork.

For the past seven days, Banksy’s Instagram account has showcased a new animal artwork each day, featuring silhouettes of various creatures including goats, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, and a cat.

On Saturday, a piece showing a stretching cat on a damaged, empty advertising billboard was removed from its location in north-west London just hours after it was revealed. Crowds expressed their displeasure as the piece in Cricklewood was dismantled by three men who claimed they were hired by a contracting company to remove the billboard for safety reasons.

Following Banksy’s confirmation of the design’s authenticity, people from across London gathered to view the artwork before it was taken down. A contractor, who identified himself only as Marc, stated that they initially planned to remove and replace the billboard on Monday, but the removal was advanced to Saturday to prevent anyone from potentially ripping it down and leaving it in an unsafe condition.

A black board was initially used to cover most of the cat at the request of the police, who wanted to avoid people walking into the road and potentially causing traffic disruptions. The billboard owner has since informed the police of his intention to donate the piece to an art gallery.

The cat design was the second artwork to be removed within a week, following the disappearance of a painting of a howling wolf on a satellite dish. The wolf artwork, located on the roof of a shop in Peckham, south London, was taken down less than an hour after it was unveiled. “It’s a great shame we can’t have nice things and it’s a shame it couldn’t have lasted more than an hour,” a witness commented.

The first piece of graffiti in Banksy’s animal-themed series, which was unveiled on Monday, is located near Kew Bridge in south-west London and shows a goat surrounded by falling rocks just above a CCTV camera. On Tuesday, the artist added silhouettes of two elephants, their trunks stretched towards each other, on the side of a building in Chelsea, west London.

This was followed by three monkeys appearing to swing underneath a bridge over Brick Lane in east London. On Friday, the fifth design was revealed in Walthamstow, north-east London; it depicted pelicans stealing fish from a chip shop sign.

Source: The Guardian, PA Media