Banksy’s Latest Valentine’s Day Piece Taken Down Hours After Reveal

Many people know Banksy for his thought-provoking and often shocking art pieces. That is why it was no surprise that the artist had a special gift on Valentine’s Day.

He posted a photo of it on Instagram and dubbed it “Valentine’s Day Mascara.” It featured a stereotypical housewife getting rid of an abusive husband. 

However, city officials confiscated an essential part of the artwork hours after it went live. In response, people wonder about the authorities’ actions.

Why did officials take down Banksy’s artwork?

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We would have to discuss Banksy’s latest creation before we could talk about why city officials took it down.

“Valentine’s Day Mascara” depicts a stereotypical 1950s housewife in rubber gloves, a dress, and a prim and proper hairstyle. 

Yet, the woman’s face shows signs of abuse, such as a missing tooth and a swollen eye. She also seems to be stowing a man inside a freezer. 

The man’s limbs were wall paintings, but that freezer was real. Together, they seemingly share awareness about domestic violence during Valentine’s Day.

It was in the streets of Margate, Kent, in England. According to Sky News, artist Pete Brown reportedly saw city council officials taking away the freezer.

He said, “A council truck turned up and they took away the freezer.” Moreover, Brown described it as having hazard warning lights and a metal cage, usually for removing illegally dumped waste.

The council released a statement regarding the confiscated art piece. It said the freezer “is now in storage and will be returned once it has been made safe to the public.”

“We will be contacting the owner of the property to discuss the options to preserve the artwork for the district,” it added. 

How did Margate residents respond? 

Photo Credit: metro.co.uk

Banksy is a relatively well-known online figure, so the people of Margate reacted strongly to what happened.

The tenant who first saw the removal said, “I’m absolutely upset because it’s not really nice. It was part of the art, they should be very happy because Margate could get bigger attention, positive attention.” 

“Why did they move those parts? It’s just silly,” she added. “Earlier, no one was interested if the rubbish was on the street. I mean, they were, but not that quickly.”

“Even if you report something to them about taking the rubbish, they are acting one or two weeks later, not immediately.”

Another resident named Richard Llewellyn said, “The alley, a public footpath that leads almost to where the Banksy art piece is, has been like this for weeks and weeks.”

“It’s shocking what is in the pile. Yet, the council can arrive as quick as anything to remove part of the artwork 200 meters away. Someone’s priorities a little wrong me thinks.”

Also, Laura Holden said, “People were sort of like, ‘Stop, stop, you know, this is a Banksy, right?” 

“And they (the workers) were like, ‘Yeah, no, we’ve got permission to take everything away’,” she added. 

“It felt like it was part of the piece, and perhaps Banksy intended that all along, because we all know how hard it is to get Thanet District Council to come and collect our rubbish.”

Banksy has been busy creating and selling limited-edition prints to raise funds for Ukrainian civilians affected by the ongoing war.