New York’s New Banksy Murals

Two new pieces of street art from the mysterious British graffiti artist Banksy appeared in Brooklyn, New York, last month. As always, the new art is causing a stir among Banksy fanatics, after sharp-eyed passersby recognized his work. Later, Banksy posted both pieces to his Instagram account, confirming himself as the artist.

The murals are situated at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Avenue I, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Midwood. The larger of the two reflects the artist’s anti-capitalist sentiments; it’s constructed at the site of a run-down gas station slated for demolition and depicts a man in a suit and hard hat cracking a whip over a group of people. The whip appears as a stock market graph on the rise, while the group of people fleeing includes a mother and a baby, a dog and an elderly man. The piece is entitled “Coney Island Adventure.”

At the same site there’s a second mural that skews more abstract. It involves a seal balancing an orange ball on its nose. The ball is formed by the space left behind by the gas station’s vanished logo.