Banksy Encourages People to Wear Face Masks With New Street Art
Returning to the London Underground to get up his notorious rat stencils.
Banksy just posted a video on Instagram showing his latest public intervention. In the clip, the elusive British artist is disguised as a professional cleaner, returning to the London underground to get up a new street art piece called If You Don’t Mask, You Don’t Get.
During the process, Banksy is seen directing passengers to move away as he stencils his notorious rats across the interiors of the train. His name is also thrown up beside the driver’s door of the carriage. The whimsical piece portrays a number of rats clad in face masks in a variety of poses. One rodent appears to be sneezing, while another is spraying anti-bacterial gel. With this intervention, Banksy seems to be encouraging people to wear face masks amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. All public transportation commuters are required to wear face masks in London.
At the end of the video, the words “I get lockdown” appear on a wall of a London Underground station alongside the phrase “but I get up again” as the train’s doors close while Chumbawamba’s 1997 song Tubthumping thumps in the backdrop. Check out Banksy’s full process video for If You Don’t Mask, You Don’t Get below.
Elsewhere in art, Yoshitomo Nara is displaying unseen drawings at Pace Gallery’s temporary East Hampton location.
