Perfectly timed with the French presidential election, Banksy just revealed his latest public piece in Dover, UK. Placed right across the ferry terminal that connects UK with Calais, a town from which countless refugees and immigrants are trying to enter the UK, the large mural depicts a workman chipping away one of the stars from the EU flag.
Photos: Banksy & Hannah McKay, Reuters
Commenting on the effects of Brexit on the rest of the union, the chiseling is causing a large crack through the entire flag, a detail which can be missed when seeing the large piece from a distance. Banksy cleverly used the momentum of the political situation in France by revealing his newest work on the day of a presidential election which could decide the future of the European union. Sending out a clear message to those arriving from the mainland Europe, the piece was painted over the weekend on an abandoned Castle Amusements Dover building next to the "Welcome to Dover" sign. The irony is that the blue dove symbol connecting to that sign was chiseled off from under the mural. While somewhat more obvious than his other works, this intervention was definitively completed with its perfect timing and fantastic location that can be seen on the photos that took over social media overnight. —Sasha Bogojev