All creatures great and small: Why Banksy’s recent animal campaign should ignite conversation

The British street art institution known as Banksy has re-emerged with a series of nine animal-themed pieces across London. The latest project from the anonymous artist, who has long blurred the boundary between thought-provoking technique and vandalism, has captured the imagination of passers-by commuting in the capital. But alongside injecting some character onto the walls they now emblazon, Banksy’s widely-acknowledged role as a political activist may point to a deeper meaning behind these painted creatures now inhabiting London’s streets.

It all began on Monday 5 August, with the appearance of an ibex goat balancing precariously atop a pillar close to Kew Bridge in Richmond. During the ensuing week, Banksy’s menagerie of stencil-painted silhouettes expanded daily across the city: with two elephants greeting each other in Chelsea; a trio of monkeys swinging across a Brick Lane bridge, and a wolf howling on a satellite dish in Rye Lane, Peckham. Less than an hour after the elusive artist confirmed the wolf as his work on Instagram, the dish was stolen, with its whereabouts now unknown.

On the Friday, Bonner’s Fish Bar in Walthamstow expressed that it was “over the moon” to see that a silhouetted pelican had materialised overnight on the chippy’s sign, tossing its fish into the air and gulping them down. One can only begin to imagine the shop’s bright business prospects in the coming weeks and months – an influx of travelling Banksy fans will surely compensate for the shops defacement – or, rather, its embellishment.

The street artist would unleash his final and most blatant stencil piece on Tuesday 13 August, on a shutter at London Zoo – an apt and telling finale for this citywide wildlife extravaganza.

Saturday saw the arrival of a feline stretching out on an unused advertising board in Cricklewood. The billboard, which was due to be removed the following Monday, was dismantled just hours later by three contractor-employed men – to the dismay, understandably, of many onlookers. Also removed was painting number seven, a shoal of piranhas covering the windows of a City of London Police box. Now resembling a fish tank, the box was moved from its location near the Old Bailey the following day to a “safe location”, said a City of London Corporation spokesperson.

A mural of a rhinoceros climbing atop a car  parked in Charlton, southeast London, appeared and was soon defaced on Monday morning, a week on from the emergence of Banksy’s first animal on the loose. The street artist would unleash his final and most blatant stencil piece on Tuesday 13 August, on a shutter at London Zoo – an apt and telling finale for this citywide wildlife extravaganza.

Gifting his beautiful art to all Londoners is activism at its incipient stage, the catalyst for conversations to be had about our human purpose as shapers of the earth, like the possible meaning this article attempts to attribute to his work.

Depicting a gorilla liberating fellow creatures great and small from behind the corrugated shutter (among them a seal and several birds, with eyes in the darkness readying to join them), the ninth and final piece in Banksy’s series may provide insight into its companions’ satirical message.

Banksy may have succeeded in enlivening London’s streets again like he has so often done before, but many have also noted the implicit messaging in his animal-a-day campaign, particularly after Tuesday’s conclusion. London Zoo’s gorilla, aiding the other captives, may expose the source of Banksy’s painted city narrative, the origin of the wildlife which has run amok to populate the capital’s suburbs. That so much joy has been found in the quaint and vibrant parade of animals, which has led many Londoners on a giddy treasure hunt, says much about the feeling of community and happiness which comes from freedom and helping one’s fellow creatures.

Banksy’s established tendency to drop his mysterious messages onto the art scene and then resume his place in the shadows may reveal something crucial about his motives. Gifting his beautiful art to all Londoners is activism at its incipient stage, the catalyst for conversations to be had about our human purpose as shapers of the earth, like the possible meaning this article attempts to attribute to his work.

The migration of Banksy’s animals to the metropole may reflect their similar desperation for the aid of the species most capable of reversing such climate change – us humans.

If Banksy’s zoological escapade, whatever its purpose, can’t succeed in abolishing much-loved sites like zoos (most of which create a protective environment for animals), it can at least reinitiate debates about animal cruelty and habitat destruction in the wider world. The 2018 Greenpeace film, ‘Rang-tan’, which saw an orangutan explain to a little girl about the deforestation of its habitat for palm oil, was banned from UK television for its political agenda when the supermarket Iceland supported its advertising campaign; this move ultimately led to a surge in views of the film. The migration of Banksy’s animals to the metropole may reflect their similar desperation for the aid of the species most capable of reversing such climate change – us humans.

In this respect, a simple installation, such as Banksy’s recently unveiled animal series, can serve a broader purpose now that his art is ours to absorb and interpret. His charming artwork has given us something to smile about in the wake of such distressing news both domestically and overseas, giving passers-by a feeling of unity and pride, yet that pride must be earned now.

A 2006 Banksy piece displayed a maid emptying a dustpan behind a curtain, perhaps an allegory for ‘sweeping under the carpet’ the issues that the West was reluctant to address. The defacement of Banksy’s recent rhino, hoping, and now failing, to scale the car, points to the continuity of this issue on environmental terms. Banksy is telling us that the plight of animals must be spoken about more. Looking back at the goat he painted on day one, struggling to maintain its footing atop a steep precipice, we can now begin to see the desperate and last-chance symbolism that haunts these innocent silhouettes across London.