Banksy’s ‘Beastly London’ Series Comes to a Close—Let’s Rank ‘Em!

For over a week, the mysterious street artist Banksy took to the streets of London and, under the cover of night, took the Big Smoke for a walk on the wild side by introducing stenciled wildlife into the urban cityscape. 

Every day, for nine consecutive days, a new Banksy mural depicting a member or members of the animal kingdom appeared somewhere in the city. They perched on the roofs of buildings and swung from infrastructure. One of the portrayed animals even get very, very friendly with Nissan Micra. After each discovery, the artist claimed the work as his own via posts on Instagram.

There was no explanation as to why he chose to decorate the city with elephants, monkeys, and fish (oh my), which suited his followers well enough. Half of the pleasure of a new Banksy every day was speculating what message the artist was trying to send.

“The camera is looking at the falling rocks, rather than what’s causing them to fall,” one person wrote on the Banksy’s Instagram post of a stenciled goat standing just so on the buttress of a wall new Kew Bridge in Richmond, a town in southwest London, as rocks tumble from beneath the animal’s feet. “Goats are adapted to climbing on narrow ledges, so it isn’t in danger, but the camera’s view doesn’t give the full picture. So I’d guess that it’s referencing the need to understand that news needs context before forming an opinion.”

On a post in which Banksy “claimed authorship” of three stenciled monkeys swinging from a bridge over Brick Lane, near Shoreditch High Street, one user wrote that the work “can be seen as a critique of the chaotic and irrational behavior in society, especially during the Trump era and the fears of terrorism.” The monkeys, the user went on, might symbolize “the masses blindly following a fragile path, reflecting how populism and fear can lead to reckless actions.” Heady stuff. 

Unless Banksy himself chooses to make a statement on his metropolis-wide menagerie, speculation and appreciation is all we’ve got. Like with criticism, anything is fair game.

It’s in that spirit that we present Banksy’s array of wildlife, ranked.