Margate wall painting confirmed as piece by street artist Banksy

The Banksy art work in Margate Photo Frank Leppard

A piece of art which appeared on the wall of a property in Margate this week has been confirmed as the work of street artist and political activist Banksy.

The painting, which is in Park Place (rear of Grosvenor Place, near Margate fire station), is a comment on domestic violence and shows a 50s-style housewife suffering a swollen shut eye, shoving, presumably, her husband into a dumped chest freezer.

Photo Frank Leppard

The art work has now appeared on the Banksy Instagram account with the title Valentine’s Day Mascara.

Banksy Instagram account

It is proving a draw for curious residents who have been to see the work – which has a different chair by the freezer- and artist Pete Brown who has been capturing the scene on canvas.

Photo Frank Leppard

Banksy’s stencils feature striking and, often darkly humorous, images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment.

He displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. His work has appeared at locations world-wide.

Photo Frank Leppard

The works are highly valuable with several selling for millions of pounds.

This isn’t Banksy’s first visit to Margate. In November 2013 he visited an open day at Dreamland arranged by people including Thanet artist Dan Thompson to mark the park’s move to public ownership.

Photo Frank Leppard

He left a tag on the park comment wall which is now owned by the Dreamland Heritage Trust.

Photo Louis McLaren

In 2015 he went on to create art project Dismaland in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.

Banksy visited Margate in 2013 Photo Dan Thompson

A Brexit comment piece by the artist painted in Dover in 2017 depicted a man on a ladder chipping away at one of the EU flag stars. Sadly, this was painted over.

Photo Sean Bicknell

Don’t suffer in silence – get help

Find help information from Oasis Domestic Abuse service at http://www.oasisdaservice.org/get-help-now and click the ‘exit now’ button to erase all traces from your Internet history.

Call Kent Domestic Abuse Services Victim Support on 0808 168 9276

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is run by Refuge and offers free, confidential support 24 hours a day to victims and those who are worried about friends and loved ones. Telephone: 0808 2000 247

The Men’s Advice Line is a confidential helpline for male victims of domestic abuse and those supporting them.

Call 0808 801 0327.

54 Comments

  1. Please stop calling it art its graffiti the same as any other graffiti in thanet.

    Just because the arty sector like his graffiti it doesnt make it right.

    Banksy has broken the law and when he is found should be fined and made to clear it of.

    Theres clearly one law for graffiti artist called banksy and one rule for a graffiti artist called joe blogs

  2. It’s going to bloody silly when TDC remove the fridge. Or was that put their by banksy ? And now the fridge will stay their forever as its part of a banksy. Great lol

    • Does seem odd that Banksy just happened to know there was a fly-tipped fridge in Thanet, that he could draw this on the wall next to.

  3. I love it, but it needs protecting quickly, before it gets tagged on itself. Just so you know, I spoke to one of the artists who did one of the conservation murals in Margates Rise Up, Clean Up. He feels that all and any graffiti is ‘art’. Some of it is clearly clever (like a Banksy or Smug), but I know that some of it just looks like vandalism. What do you think?

  4. Amazing.

    A beautiful piece.

    Stunning and brave.

    No doubt lost on many of the local knuckle draggers.

    They want to concrete over Thanet and have it as an airport.

    No jobs just freight machines doing all the work.

    British education system? Sounds a good idea.

    Knowledge is power.

  5. It is seriously worrying just how many people think it’s ok to paint on other people’s properties. Give your heads a wobble !

  6. Ugh! I feel for whoever lives on the other side of the wall with all the unwanted pestering knocking at their door! Pretty rehashed really, could have mirrored it with a polar opposite (man who has been emotionally and physically beaten). Personally i would have drawn the word Thanet on the freezer (a bin better) with DFLs, EUs, homeless and other poor or disillusioned sods being cramped in by some never stopping crushing machine with a foreground of tree stumps, piles of dead birds and other wildlife strewn about. Now that would be a political statement!

  7. How long before the TDC covers it over, or does it lend credents to the arty farty town they’re trying to turn it into ?

  8. If it’s a genuine Banksy, and it’s on your wall, would you object??
    Makes me think of those cavemen thousands of years ago. Did they check who owned the walls of the cave before they sketched all those animals and birds? Probably not.
    So should we paint over them?

  9. What a lot of miserable b***ers commenting on here. I like it and think it should stay. I certainly wouldn’t object if it was on my property.

    • We have a batch of resident posters that a snowflakes. Ready to be angry and offended at everything. This sort of thing attracts their venom.

      Especially as it highlights domestic violence.

      It all the triggers for their fragile male egos.

      They have to ooze toxicity over everything.

      It’s their age and their education you can’t really blame them, just pity them.

  10. I do actually like banksy stuff.

    But it’s the double standards I dont like. Its not graffiti if it’s done by banksy its art. If I do it its graffiti why is that ? I can do stencils.

  11. Love the reactions from the snowflakes. Nothing better do do with their time than moan. Bitter, jealous, hateful, righteous snowflakes. Well done Banksy!!!

  12. Is Banksy a franchise or an individual?
    If he is an individual,how does he manage to complete all these wall sprays,without anybody ever seeing him?

    • You can do all kinds of things in plain sight, especially if you’ve got a fluoro jacket on and a work van! I think someone said there was a broadband van parked there while he did the deed. Good cover as everyone just ignores a BT van. I now have my tail between my legs having stated here yesterday that this wasn’t a Banksy as it wasn’t clever enough 😂

  13. Utterly brilliant work, a comment on domestic violence with the epic title of Valentine’s Day Mascara. Margate is very lucky.

  14. Well I think it’s great I bet a lot of women who have been in an abusive marriage would like to do this to there husband’s.

  15. I’m beginning to identify the Banksy strategy.
    1) Find somewhere with a local interest in art. But with a remnant “Brexity” local grouping as well. They are always moaning.(Can’t blame them. They got what they wished for).
    2) Do something not particularly daring like painting on a spare gable-end.
    3)Arrange supporters to send in complaints about the “vandalism” and the “waste of money”. This draws attention and starts a “debate”.
    4)Sit back and watch the notoriety go “viral”(at least around Thanet).
    5) Result!

  16. I think it’s great I didn’t look at it as I was on line without my glasses it’s amazing Margate is lucky to have this this is what it’s all about Thankyou Banksy

  17. When they eventually catch this numbskul who puts horrible graffiti on folks’ walls, he should be made to scrub them all off.

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