Banksy’s billboard cat removed as meaning of his London animals revealed
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/aug/10/meaning-new-banksy-series-revealed-latest-london-artwork
Exclusive: secretive artist trying to raise a smile with pelicans, elephants, monkeys, wolf, goat and cat
Banksy’s hope, it is understood, is that the uplifting works cheer people with a moment of unexpected amusement, as well as to gently underline the human capacity for creative play, rather than for destruction and negativity.
Some recent theorising about the deeper significance of each new image has been way too involved, Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, has indicated.
A contractor, who only wanted to give his name as Marc, told PA they were planning to pull the billboard down on Monday and had removed it early in case someone “rips it down and leaves it unsafe”.
He said: “We’ll store that bit [the artwork] in our yard to see if anyone collects it but if not it’ll go in a skip. I’ve been told to keep it careful in case he wants it.”
See source article for more details and great pics of the current art campaign.