The anonymous street artist Banksy is known for his graffiti work and graphic statements. His latest work is a sculpture being displayed at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool alongside artistic masterpieces by Rubens and Van Dyck within room three of the museum’s 17th century old master galleries, reported CultHub.
His new art work, Cardinal Sin, is a vandalised statue of a priest with a sawed off face, in place of the face is an arrangement of blank tiles which gives it a pixellated look. The sculpture is a comment on the child abuse cover-up within the Catholic church and is being displayed “for an indefinite amount of time.”
And Banksy himself had this to say, “I love everything about the Walker Gallery – the Old Masters, the contemporary art, the rude girl in the cafe. And when I found out Mr Walker built it with beer money, it became my favourite gallery.”
As for Cardinal Sin, he explains, “The statue? I guess you could call it a Christmas present. At this time of year it’s easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity – the lies, the corruption, the abuse.”
The National Museums Liverpool’s Reyahn King, director of the Walker Art Gallery asks for patrons of the Walker Art Gallery to make their own decision — art is often controversial and is in part why the museum accepted the piece. Yep, accepted — Banksy didn’t break in. Watch King explain to the BBC.
In other British art news, the David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture exhibit runs in the Main Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House in London from January 21-April 9. In addition to his landscapes spanning over fifty years of work the show will include recent iPad drawings and a film.
via CultHub, BBC, RoyalAcademy.org