‘People of colour are being failed by the system,’ the street artist said in a statement accompanying the work
Mysterious street artist Banksy has shared a new piece of art on his Instagram page, along with a statement seemingly inspired by by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests taking place globally.
The image shows portrait of a black figure with roses and a candle, in a funeral set-up. As you swipe though, you see that the candle is setting the US flag alight.
The third image in the series of photos is a statement from the famously outspoken artist.
“At first I thought I should just shut up and listen to black people about this issue. But why would I do that? It’s not their problem. It’s mine,” he wrote.
“People of colour are being failed by the system. The white system. Like a broken pipe flooding the apartment of the people living downstairs. This faulty system is making their life a misery, but it’s not their job to fix it. They can’t – no-one will let them in the apartment upstairs.
“This is a white problem and if white people don’t fix it, someone will have to come upstairs and kick the door in.”
Following the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man, who was killed in police custody after a white policeman knelt on his neck, rallies and protests have broken out in cities across the US and around the world.
This latest piece is a departure from Banksy’s large-scale stencilled street art he is known for. He has not yet announced where, or if, the piece will be displayed.
Little is officially known about Banksy, who makes an effort to keep his identity hidden, revealing little about his personal life. However, he is never one to shy away from social commentary.
In May, a work was unveiled at a UK hospital, depicting a young boy putting his Spider-Man and Batman toys in the bin, instead choosing to play with a doll of a nurse, making her the new superhero.
A month earlier, he seemed to give the world an insight into his set-up as he too was working from home, with a bathroom covered in his trademark stencilled rats. The artist joked: “My wife hates it when I work from home.”
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