London’s nine animal murals; a peek into the mystery artist

LONDON: Renowned British street artist Banksy has created the ninth – and perhaps final – mural of his animal-themed art trail across London. His identity is shrouded in mystery, but his art appears in the most public of places.

This time it’s a gorilla freeing a sea lion and birds appeared on the doorstep of the London Zoo. Staff say they will keep the mural preserved as it has already delighted crowds of people.

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The series began with a mountain goat. Then elephants… monkeys and a wolf on a satellite dish… which was stolen within hours of being unveiled. Then came pelicans above a fish & chips shop, a cat, a fish tank on a police box, and a rhino.

Banksy has claimed all of these murals on his Instagram account – which has 13 million followers. And yet he follows no one.

The BBC, citing Banksy’s team, said the gorilla artwork was the final piece of the series. The artist’s team did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Executive Director of New York’s Banksy Museum, William Meade, told Reuters in May that mystery is a common thread throughout his work. “Banksy is one of the most unusual artists because not only is he elusive in terms of who and what he is, but also he was never, no one knows exactly where he came from or what he’s doing.”

“So the wonderful thing about Banksy is that there’s no laws. There’s no, you know, he doesn’t want anybody telling you what to do or how to experience the art.”

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But some speculate Banksy – who has highlighted themes of war and climate change in his previous work – could be relating animals to the riots and racist attacks that have recently swept the UK.

Other theories on social media suggest these murals point to the downfall of humanity.

One user wrote, “Humanity is not going to last … animals will be taking over.”