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.
The art work has now appeared on the Banksy Instagram account with the title Valentine’s Day Mascara.
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.
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.
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.
He left a tag on the park comment wall which is now owned by the Dreamland Heritage Trust.
In 2015 he went on to create art project Dismaland in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.
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.
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.
