Banksy is known for including the environment in his works and their context. He also stuck to his practice with the murals that were discovered a few days ago in the war-torn Ukraine and have since been confirmed by the British artist. All works bear the typical Banksy handwriting.
The artist published a kind of making-of video on Instagram that documents the creation of the pictures (you can see the video here). Among other things, you can see how the anonymous street artist takes up a rather simple penis graffiti sprayed on a wall and supplements it with a rocket launcher that has been worked out in detail. The phallus is apparently positioned on the loading area by three soldiers.
Banksy used a chair in front of a house wall to transform it into a vantage point for a woman with a gas mask and fire extinguisher. He optically converted a tank barrier in Kyiv into a children’s seesaw. A pile of rubble to turn bars. The utensils complete the works and at the same time make them ephemeral. If they are taken away, the work is no longer whole.
Banksy: His works in Ukraine are an impressive memorial
Another work, a man in his bathtub, shows how defenseless people are at the mercy of war, how vulnerable they are even in their own homes. And with the child in the judo suit, who throws his apparently overpowering opponent (who not coincidentally strongly reminds of judo fan Vladimir Putin) onto the ground, many Ukrainians are likely to identify at the moment.
On Instagram, Banksy receives a lot of encouragement for his latest works, and there is also praise for his courage in the comments. As well as wishes from Iranian users that he should also act accordingly in their country. Because Banksy’s pictures in Ukraine are not paint on the wall: They draw the world’s attention to the senseless destruction of war and the situation of the people who suffer from it – in a cautionary way that only art can do.