Banksy unveils yet another mystery animal mural

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Banksy has struck again, revealing a cheeky new rhino mural in London – his eighth piece of animal artwork in eight days.

The latest image shows the animal mounting an old silver Nissan Micra – which has a traffic cone on its bonnet, apparently to resemble another rhinoceros.

Banksy‘s latest graffiti campaign began last week, when an ibex goat appeared near Kew Bridge, in Richmond, west London. This was followed by murals of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans and a cat, which appeared in various locations across the capital – and swimming piranhas appearing overnight in a police box in the City of London on Sunday.

Fans thought the series might finish at the end of the week – so as the latest image marks the start of a second week, the question now is: how long will the anonymous artist continue?

The rhino mural is situated on the side of a building in Westmoor Street in Charlton, southeast London, near to a yard used by the RMS waste disposal company. It is understood workers found the image when they arrived on site this morning but did not know it was genuine until it was confirmed.

It has been designed to look as though the animal is climbing on to a car parked next to the property. Later images taken at the site show a skip has since been placed next to it.

Banksy has been posting animal artwork to his Instagram at around 1pm every day since Monday 5 August, with no captions or details of locations.

Some have been silhouettes, while the school of fish was more detailed and a departure from the usual style. The rhino is also more detailed than some, suggesting the artist may have had more time to plan and execute the design.

“This is the best yet,” one follower wrote underneath the rhino post. “That car just went up 100x in price,” wrote another.

The Banksy animals so far

The first piece of graffiti in the series depicted a goat with rocks falling down below it, just above where a CCTV camera is pointed.

It is painted in Banksy’s signature stencil-style silhouette near to Kew Bridge in southwest London, and appeared on Monday 5 August.

The following day, a silhouette of two elephants with their trunks stretched toward each other appeared on the side of a building near Chelsea.

Three swinging monkeys followed, painted in in black on a bridge over Brick Lane, near a vintage clothing shop and a coffee house in the popular market street, not far from Shoreditch High Street, east London.

A fourth image of a howling wolf, painted on to a satellite dish, created drama when it was stolen from its location in Peckham, southeast London, within hours of being revealed.

With some questioning whether the removal was part of the art, a spokesman for Banksy said the artist was neither connected to nor endorses the theft, and that they have “no knowledge as to the dish’s current whereabouts”.

On Friday, residents in Walthamstow, northeast London, woke up to discover a cheery image of pelicans pinching fish from a chip shop sign.

A message on the shop’s Facebook page at the weekend said: “So proud to have a @banksy on the side of our shop! Thank you for choosing us, and Walthamstow to showcase your talent.”

The sixth image, of a stretching cat, in Cricklewood, northwest London, was painted on a billboard – and quickly removed by contractors, apparently amid concerns it might be pulled down or stolen, and left unsafe.

Crowds booed as the piece was dismantled by three men.

Swimming piranhas capped the week on Sunday, appearing near London’s Old Bailey.

A City of London Corporation spokesman has said they are looking at options to preserve the artwork.

Banksy usually leaves months between his artworks, confirming them on social media soon after they appear.

With the animal images coming daily, there has been much speculation about the meaning behind the series.

According to The Guardian, the new series of work by the elusive artist is meant to cheer up the public at a time when the news has been bleak, including headlines on widespread rioting across the UK.

The artist also made headlines in June when he released a migrant boat installation over the crowd at Glastonbury during performances by Idles and Little Simz.

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