New artworks by street artist Banksy found in Paris
At least seven new artworks, suspected to be the work of controversial and much-loved British street artist Banksy, have been revealed across Paris, including behind the Bataclan music venue.
Fans of the artist regularly keep an eye out for his new artwork, and media website Télérama recently published a list of seven new works that it believes are by the street art star.
One piece - only revealed on Instagram on Monday June 26 - showed a downcast white image painted on a door in the street behind the Bataclan, the music venue that was the scene of a deadly terror attack on November 13, 2015.
The door is in the Saint-Pierre Amelot passage, through which many show spectators are thought to have fled during the attack.
Another piece - tracked down by eagle-eyed fans - shows a young black girl covering a swastika with graffiti of a pink rug-style pattern.
Another - on the Avenue de Flandres in the 19th arrondissement - shows a dramatic take on the famous painting by Jean-Louis David, called Bonaparte Franchissant le Grand-Saint-Bernard.
Another troubling work shows a man offering a bone to a three-legged dog, while holding a saw behind him in his other hand (with the suggestion that the man may have just cut the dog’s leg off himself).
Three other works feature rats in various poses.
Specialist art site Artistik Rezo has also said it believes Banksy to be the artist of these new works, thanks to the techniques used and the themes addressed.
But it is unlikely that this will ever be formally confirmed, given that the artist does not sign his pieces, and has so far never revealed his real identity.
Banksy is known for being a political commentator, making artwork that criticises - even implicitly - the political or social situations of the day.
He is especially known for pieces that comment on social injustice, poverty, war, heavy-handed policing and governments, homophobia, hypocrisy, poverty and inequality, animal rights, and the impact of technology and social media on today’s world.
Some of the most well-known include Girl With Balloon (2004); Love Is In The Air (Flower Thrower; 2006); and Barcode (2003) - although some of the most “well-known”, such as “Kissing Coppers” in Brighton, UK, have been revealed as fakes.
Somewhat ironically, the artist’s genuine work - once derided as just normal street graffiti - is now seen as one of the most-prestigious forms of street art, with pieces regularly selling for over half a million dollars at auction.
