Well it’s been a while, but yesterday saw the arrival in London of Street Artist Banksy’s latest stencil work, and it has unsurprisingly caused quite the stir. The work which appeared at some point on Saturday night was placed up in Knightsbridge, somewhere you really don’t see any forms of Street Art, directly opposite the French Embassy. The work was created and placed in such a location to criticize and draw attention to the measures the French authorities are taking to deal with refugees in ‘The Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, namely the use of deploying CS gas as a form of crowd control on the thousands of refugees currently residing there.
The work features the iconic image of Cosette from Victor Hugo’s historical novel Les Miserables, an image that despite many upgrades has continued to be the iconic symbol of the Les Miserables story through its many incarnations, most notably in its latest form as a musical. However as is often the case with Banksy things are a little more witty then that, and in this image the iconic French emblem is depicted with Cosette shown with tears running down her face as she is engulfed in the fumes from the CS gas canister on the ground below her.
The work also features a first from Banksy in the form of the addition of a QR code, which upon been scanned takes you to a Youtube video (shared below) showing a police raid in ‘The Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais on January 5th, which clearly shows teargas being deployed the French authorities.
As is often the case with anything put out by this artist, there was certainly a sense of hysteria surrounding it, with people flooding to see it this morning, ourselves included, reports of people attempting to steal it in the night and ultimately with the building owner on which it resides, covering over the work, with our guess being for the reason of selling the work for a rather large sum that in terms of Street Art, only Banksy can command.
Well I was just about to write about this on my site, when yours popped up. I shall just have to reblog yours if that is okay with you?
Reblogged this on ART So Provident and commented:
I’ve been meaning to write about various street artists, starting with Banksy for some time now. But last night he came up with this one. So without further ado go to the very excellent London Calling site and read all about it
Thank you so much for sharing this post Southampton Old Lady, most kind.
Not at all, it was if the words were taken right out of my mouth
Me tinks Banksy also wanted to wish London Calling happy birthday!!! Nice post and happy one year from me!!!! Brings a tear to my eyes…
Haha, it’s purely a coincidence Mitch. Thanks for comment on the post and the well wishes Mitch. Additionally thank you for all the comments and input on the works we share, makes it much more fun.
Nice one! And good pics too. It was fun to share the moment with you.
Thanks Tanya Nash, it was quite the experience and a pleasure to share the moment, from one blogger to another.