Banksy seems to be getting more philosophical in his middle age. His latest work, posted to his 13.2m followers on Instagram yesterday after a six-month hiatus, depicts a black lighthouse with the words “I want to be what you saw in me” stencilled over it. The outline of the lighthouse appears to have been formed by the shadow cast by a nearby bollard in the street, which also resembles a person.
Banksy’s studio Pest Control declined to comment on the work, but the mural has prompted speculation about the potentially personal meaning behind it—something Banksy, who has fiercely guarded his anonymity his entire career, has largely avoided. Could a great unmasking now be on the cards?
Highly improbable. It seems we are more likely witnessing a moment of rare self-reflection—after all, this is the first time Banksy has referred to himself in the first person in a public mural.
Another Instagram account dedicated to Banksy’s work called Gross Domestic Product (after the pop-up shop the artist created in Croydon in October 2019) also shared images yesterday of the lighthouse with the caption “RIP” and an emoji of a broken heart (the Gross Domestic Product account is not affiliated with Pest Control). Comments under the post suggest the work could relate to the recent death of an artist known as Lonely Farmer, who is understood to have been close to Banksy. The Lonely Farmer’s Instagram account, which describes him as a “painter and decorator”, features posts about Banksy including what appears to be mock ups of the street artist’s mural of a woman sneezing, painted on the side of a house in Bristol in December 2020.
Image: Banksy/Instagram
Context is normally crucial for providing meaning to Banksy’s work, but the location of the new piece has been shrouded in more mystery than usual. One of the images Banksy has posted on his Instagram account shows an older couple walking their dogs past the mural, but no one has yet come forward and identified them.
Social media users initially suggested the lighthouse has been painted in the Le Panier district of Marseille in the south of France, which is famed for its graffiti. Other artists to have left their mark there include Invader, Nhobi and Valé. A breakthrough came, however, on 29 May when BBC Verify confirmed the location as the city’s Rue Félix Fregier.
Banky's latest mural is a far cry from some of the more politically charged outdoor work of much of the street artist's career, which has highlighted issues including the plight of the Palestinian people, the refugee crisis and the obscenity of the art industry.
But the artist’s work has become increasingly cryptic and somewhat hackneyed in recent months as he appears to reconcile enormous commercial success with his tendency for outspokenness. Last summer Banksy unveiled a series of murals of animals across London, which some suggested were a comment on the impact of humans on biodiversity; while in March 2024 he spray-painted a wall green behind a severely pollarded cherry tree in north London, which was interpreted as a comment on urban tree management.
Some commentators have said that at best, the latest offering attempts to open a vaguely profound conversation about being a “guiding light” or “finding the light within”. At worst, it veers into “live, laugh, love” territory. This message could be Banksy’s most personal yet—but its execution risks it also being his most banal.