Latest work of anonymous street artist Banksy involves a car

  • Banksy is back with a new round of wall murals in London
  • All of them are animal-themed
  • One even incorporates a real-life car into the mix

Published on Aug 15, 2024 at 7:01 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson

Last updated on Aug 16, 2024 at 8:21 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

Anonymous street artist Banksy likes making statements with his art, and his latest mural involved a real-life car.

Banksy’s graffiti campaign in London has seen his work pop up in various locations across the capital.

His eighth one was unveiled on Westmoor Street in Charlton, South East London.

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How a car became part of the Banksy legacy

The mural shows a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra, which has a traffic cone on its hood.

The implication here is that the rhino believes the car is a female rhino.

Whilst the rhino is painted onto the wall, the Nissan is very much real and parked right next to the wall.

In a nice touch of detail, the car’s back vehicles are lowered to give the impression that a rhino really was leaning on it.

Artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan believes that this is Banksy’s best work.

He told Metro, “I’ve been following Banksy all week. I’ve been sketching all the animals.

“I think this could be the best in my opinion. It’s very witty, it’s a great idea. I love the traffic cone on the car, which is a horn of a rhino.

“He’s also crushed the glass in the sunroof, so it looks like the weight of the rhino is kind of pushing down, so it’s very, very witty.

“Of all the ones I’ve seen this is probably the most humorous.”

It’s not the first time an artist has mixed cars and art.

Over in Los Angeles, an artist made a sign for the freeway in a bid to help out drivers – only for it to be removed and replaced.

The meaning behind the paintings

This is one of several animal inspired works that have popped up around London in recent weeks.

Monkeys have been shown swinging along a bridge in Brick Lane, elephants are reaching out to touch trunks in Chelsea and a goat is balancing on a building’s pillar in Richmond.

Wolves, cats and pelicans also feature in his recent work.

The Guardian has reported that the campaign may be an attempt to lighten people’s day with ‘unexpected amusement’ amid a period of depressing headlines.

Unfortunately, some of the works have already fallen victim to vandals who have spraypainted them hours after being unveiled.

Banksy has been around for years and remains a total mystery, despite his art being renowned.

Another graffiti artist, who has opted to be public facing, is David Choe.

He was the guy who painted Facebook’s headquarters back in 2005, accepting stock as payment – which paid off massively in the long run needless to say.

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Ben got his start in journalism at Kennedy News and Media, writing stories for national newspapers, websites and magazines. Now working as a freelancer, he divides his time between teaching at News Associates and writing for news sites on all subjects.