Banksy is back with artwork that expertly skewers how institutions treat street art
Banksy's artworks are a perfect commentary not only on the socio-political situation — Brexit or the refugee crisis, for example — but also on the way institutions are trying to control the revolutionary power of street art.
SEE ALSO: 'French Banksy' portrait on the U.S.-Mexico border is a heartbreaking comment on DACA
His latest murals, which have appeared at the Barbican centre in London, are an ironic take on the centre's latest exhibition of American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who started as a graffiti artist in New York.
"Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican — a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls," Banksy said in the Instagram caption accompanying a pic of his first Barbican mural.
A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Sep 17, 2017 at 5:10am PDT
The image shows people queuing to get a ticket for a ferris wheel which resembles the London Eye but with the passenger cars transformed into crowns, one of Basquiat's trademarks.
The other mural depicts police officers doing what it seems to be a "stop and search" to a boy which bears a striking resemblance to what is arguably Basquiat's most iconic artwork "Boy and dog in a Johnnypump" while the dog waits behind.
A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Sep 17, 2017 at 5:11am PDT
"Portrait of Basquiat being welcomed by the Metropolitan Police — an (unofficial) collaboration with the new Basquiat show," reads Banksy's comment on Instagram.
The Barbican artworks could be considered the artist's first major murals since he painted a gigantic Brexit mural in Dover. That one shows a worker removing a star on the European Union flag.
Barbican says its Basquiat exhibition is "the first large-scale exhibition in the UK" of the artist, poet, DJ and musician, who died in 1988 at age 27.
WATCH: Sticker photos that come to life might just be cooler than instant film
