Banksy’s New Mural Shows That He’s Working From Home, Too

updated Apr 16, 2020
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These days, with major cities under lockdown, you can hardly find anyone out on the street—and that includes street artists.

So, much like the rest of us, Banksy has taken to working from home. His latest artwork was supposedly made in his own bathroom. On his Instagram account on Wednesday, he posted five photos of an installation depicting mischievous rats playing with the bathroom mirror, stepping on a tube of toothpaste, peeing on the toilet seat, and wasting perfectly good toilet paper. In the reflection, there’s another rodent counting the days of lockdown using red lipstick.

The caption reads: “My wife hates it when I work from home.” (Relate much?)

According to Sotheby’s, the elusive artist commonly features rats in his work because, like the nature of street art, the animals are “grimy, disparaged, and stealthy.” They added: “The connection between the rat and unsanctioned art suggests both are irrepressible forces that are impossible to stamp out despite efforts to eradicate them.”Interestingly, the word “rat” also happens to be an anagram of the word “art.”

If you’re looking to get into art while under self-quarantine, there are plenty of ways to do so without ruining your home (and making your S.O. mad). London’s Tate Modern is currently holding a virtual tour of their Andy Warhol exhibit, while The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is offering free online art classes. IKEA, too, has released a coloring book designed like their home catalog. Enjoy!