Graffiti artist Banksy has revealed two new artworks in London. The murals, near the Barbican Centre, mark the opening of an exhibition by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who died in 1988 due to a heroin overdose.
Announcing the new artworks in a series of posts on Instagram, Banksy said on Sunday: “Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican - a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls,” reports the Guardian.
The first image, which is possibly mocking the exhibition, as Basquiat was originally a graffiti artist, is of a ferris wheel with people queueing up at a ticket booth underneath. Crown motifs, common in some of Basquiat’s art, replace the wheel’s passenger cars. In the second mural, which is clearly inspired by Basquiat’s “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump” - one of his most famous artworks - Banksy has portrayed police officers searching and questioning the boy figure as the dog looks on.
The exhibition, which is the first large-scale UK show of Basquiat’s pioneering neo-expressionism, opens on Wednesday at the arts centre. It will feature more than 100 works alongside rare photography, film and archive material.
{{/usCountry}}The exhibition, which is the first large-scale UK show of Basquiat’s pioneering neo-expressionism, opens on Wednesday at the arts centre. It will feature more than 100 works alongside rare photography, film and archive material.
{{/usCountry}}Banksy, who often makes political points with his art, is also known to support causes he cares about, the Guardian reported. In May, a Brexit-inspired mural showing a metalworker chipping away at a star on the European Union flag appeared in Dover.
Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
