Banksy, the elusive street artist, has built a career off making fun of the art world and simultaneously being one of its most successful participants despite having never sanctioned an official gallery show. His murals routinely have been chiseled off the very walls they are painted on only to later fetch millions at auction, but given the UK's stay-at-home order it seems unlikely that Banksy will be getting the chance to tag up walls any time soon. That said, quarantine girls make do.
Banksy took to Instagram to show what he's been up to while social distancing with a new work featuring his iconic rats running rampant in his own bathroom. Adding in the caption, "My wife hates it when I work from home," the piece shows various stenciled rats causing chaos in various ways from jumping on a tube of toothpaste to knocking the mirror askew and peeing in the toilet. (The rat reflected in the mirror counting off the days spent in lockdown is a big mood.)
There is even a rat skipping atop a roll of toilet paper as it unspools across the bathroom floor — a not-so-subtle poke at the panic shortages following the first wave of quarantine orders. The whole piece is a literal giant mess, but feels perfectly on par for the kind of mischief we're used to seeing Banksy get up to. And while we can only imagine the work was a huge pain to clean up afterword, it's nice to see artists are still finding ways to stay creative in these uncertain times.
Photo via Instagram
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