A Banksy artwork of piranhas in a police sentry box has been moved from near the Old Bailey to a safe location by the City of London. A spokesman for the City of London Corporation said: “We have moved the artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely. “A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course.
” It is one of eight animal-themed works unveiled in London in recent days. The street artist has been posting artwork to his Instagram at about 1pm every day since Monday August 5, and the latest piece showed a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra, with a traffic cone on its bonnet. The work on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London, is positioned on the side of a building and gives the appearance the animal is mounting another rhino in the shape of the broken-down car, with the traffic cone representing a horn.
His first piece depicted a goat and was followed by silhouettes of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat and fish, which have all popped up in various locations across London. A manager at a recycling site who works near the location of Banksy’s latest artwork said it is “nice” to “see something different” in the area. Michael Orajekwe told the PA news agency: “I was going for my lunch break and there was a lot of people in the street where I work, so obviously I was like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?’ “So I just came around and people explained to me that it’s a popular artist, a social artist called Banksy.
” He added: “This is the first time I’ve seen his work, it’s a nice thing because I get to spend my lunch doing fun stuff.” Mr Orajekwe added that he had not heard of the street artist beforehand and said that finding out who he is “affects your judgement”. Daniel Lloyd-Morgan, an artist who has been painting the new art pieces, said Banksy’s rhinoceros is his “best” yet in the animal-themed series.
He told PA: “I’ve been following Banksy all week, I’ve been sketching all the animals. “I got an alert that there was a new Banksy so I rushed down here. “I think this could be the best in my opinion.
It’s very witty, it’s a great idea.” Mr Lloyd-Morgan also said that it looks as though the glass on the car’s sunroof has been crushed to make it seem like the weight of the animal is pushing down on the car..
