The elusive street artist Banksy has gifted London a thought-provoking new artwork for the festive season, officially claiming it via his Instagram account. The piece, which appeared in the Bayswater area of west London, features two children lying down and looking up at the sky.
A Dual Appearance with a Silent Message
On Monday afternoon, Banksy posted a photograph of the mural to his official Instagram, confirming his authorship. The artwork is situated above a row of garages on Queen's Mews. Intriguingly, an identical piece materialised outside the iconic Centre Point tower in central London last Friday, though the artist's representatives have not yet verified this second installation.
Art experts were quick to interpret the powerful imagery. Speaking to the BBC, artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan suggested the Centre Point location was a deliberate choice to highlight the issue of child homelessness. "There are a lot of children who are not having a good time at Christmas," he stated, noting the irony of busy passersby "ignoring" the artwork just as society often overlooks homeless people on the streets.
Centre Point: A Symbol of the Crisis
The choice of Centre Point is deeply symbolic. The tower, completed in 1966, stood empty for over a decade and has long been associated with the homelessness crisis in the capital. The homelessness charity Centrepoint even took its name from the building, with its founder, Rev Ken Leech, once calling the structure "an affront to the homeless". The block has since been converted into multimillion-pound flats.
Banksy expert Jason Tomkins also told the BBC he believes the mural is a "clear statement on homelessness". He identified a significant detail: the little boy in the new work appears to be the same child seen catching snowflakes in a 2018 Banksy piece that appeared in Port Talbot. "This is quite unusual for him to use the same little boy again, because he has never done that," Tomkins remarked, adding to the artwork's narrative weight.
A Poignant Festive Reflection
The mural's timing, just before Christmas, amplifies its message. Lloyd-Morgan described the scene as "kind of like they're stargazing", suggesting a fitting parallel with the North Star—a traditional symbol of guidance and hope. The artwork serves as a stark, silent reminder of the inequality and hardship that persist during a season of celebration, challenging viewers to see what they so often walk past.
While the Bayswater piece is now confirmed, the mystery of the Centre Point duplicate adds another layer to Banksy's latest intervention. Whether a deliberate double installation or a copy, its presence at such a historically charged location ensures the conversation about London's ongoing housing and homelessness crisis remains firmly in the public eye.
