The heartwarming meaning behind Banksy's new graffiti collection of animals around London has been revealed.
Despite his identity being highly speculated, world-famous artist Banksy has never confirmed who he really is, which has always added an extra layer of intrigue to his artwork.
He has multiple famous graffiti works across the UK and around the world, but has recently been spotted adding a collection of animals to buildings and walls around London - and the meaning behind them has finally been uncovered.
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The new series of work comprises seven different animals in cleverly placed locations, which he unveiled by posting to his Instagram - all without any captions or context, which leaves a lot to the imagination of the British public.
A goat on the wall
The first animal he created was a goat standing on a narrow ledge against a wall.
The artwork is, as always, genius to look at, having designed it to look like the goat is verging on the edge of a fall.
One person in the comments joked: "Banksy is officially the GOAT."
Elephants in the window
His second piece was two elephants hanging out of two windows, with their trunks meeting in the middle.
One user suggested that is was a brilliant depiction of 'walking by' and ignoring the 'elephant in the room' - but the true meaning behind these Banksy's is far more simple.
Monkeys on a bridge
The third was sprayed onto the bottom of a bridge that the tube passes over, consisting of three monkeys dangling.
Again, people were quick to see a deeper meaning, whilst one person admitted: "I just see animals."
A wolf howling into the night sky
The fourth design was on a satellite dish, and appeared as though it was a fox or wolf in front of the moon.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long, after the Metropolitan Police were called to reports of a stolen satellite dish containing artwork in Peckham.
Pelicans at the fish bar
The fifth design was above a fish and chip shop called Bonners Fish Bar.
Banksy hilariously created two pelicans eating fish from the chip shop sign above the door.
Someone noted that the value of the chip shop just increased by a million since the artwork appeared!
Cats and fish
The sixth was a cat stretching on an old wooden billboard, and the seventh and most recent was fish swimming around a police box, right next to St Paul's Cathedral.
Banksy had cleverly made the police box look water-like, with blue fish swimming on each side.
And as for the meaning behind them all?
Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, indicated that recent discussions over theories of deeper meanings have been far too elaborate.
Instead, the animals were simply created with the hope of highlighting humans’ capacity for play rather than destruction.
And it could be in light of the recent riots in the UK.
Let's hope that Banksy's work will spread a little bit of joy during such dark days!
Mia Williams