On a wall outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Westminster, London, a new piece by Banksy appeared this morning before being covered up within hours. The short-lived artwork, which the artist shared on Instagram and the front page of his website, depicts a judge in traditional robes and a large wig beating a protester with a gavel as blood spatters across the demonstrator’s placard.
The piece by the anonymous artist is likely a response to the arrests of nearly 900 protestors during a rally against the ban on Palestine Action, a group that Britain has declared a terrorist organization. Membership in the group is considered a crime, which can be punished by up to 14 years in prison. Even though organizers insist the demonstration of around 1,500 was peaceful, The Met nevertheless arrested more than half of the attendees.
Banksy is known for his statements about current affairs and socio-political issues around the world. He’s famous for stealthily targeting charged sites, like destroyed buildings in Ukraine or a small town in Wales that the World Health Organization for a short time deemed the most-polluted community in the U.K. His striking and subversive imagery is sometimes humorous, ironic, or tongue-in-cheek, always taking a direct and purely visual approach in his critique of contemporary issues.
“What makes this work remarkable is not just its imagery, but its placement,” says Jasper Tordoff, a Banksy expert at MyArtBroker, on Artnet. “By choosing the Royal Courts of Justice, Banksy transforms a historic symbol of authority into a platform for debate. In classic Banksy form, he uses the building itself to sharpen the message, turning its weight and history into part of the artwork.”
Follow the artist’s updates on Instagram.
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