TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The satirical artist Banksy has launched his latest work in the central UK city Birmingham, one that puts homelessness in the spotlight.
Banksy posted a video on Instagram on Monday (Dec. 9) showing a homeless man named Ryan lying on a bench being "pulled" by two flying reindeer stenciled on the wall behind it by the enigmatic artist.
The post said, “God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter - without him ever asking for anything.” In a comment below the post, one netizen wondered whether “Ryan is Banksy himself?”
According to the BBC, the artwork appeared in the city's Jewellery Quarter. However, after a few hours, it was defaced by a vandal, who sprayed red "Rudolph" noses on the reindeer.
The owner of the jewelry studio Vault 88, Pete Smith, told the BBC that he noticed the artwork across the street when he arrived at work on Friday (Dec. 6) and that it had been attracting a lot of attention since Banksy's Instagram post.
Luke Crane of the Jewellery Quarter Business Improvement District said it is now a priority to protect the artwork. "We are very keen to make sure it is a part of our community and not something that is taken away," the BBC quoted him as saying.
Crane added that ”It's obviously about giving at a time of need for the homelessness that we have in these areas, and it's something that we've been working in partnership with the council and other organizations to try and tackle, so it's great to see it in our area."
