Banksy explains the importance of his sixth animal artwork in London

Banksy has offered an explanation for this week’s series of surprise new works, as a sixth piece has appeared in London.

Over the course of the week, six different images depicting animals have emerged across the capital, each claimed by the enigmatic Bristol-based artist via his Instagram.

It all started on Monday (August 5) with a mural depicting a stenciled goat perched precariously on a ledge in Richmond, followed on Tuesday by two elephants almost touching trunks outside windows in Chelsea.

On Wednesday, three monkeys swinging from a Shoreditch bridge arrived, while on Thursday a wolf howling at the moon from a satellite dish in Peckham was almost immediately stolen.

On Friday, a fish and chip stall in Walthamstow was left with two pelicans eating fish outside, and today a stretching cat appeared on a wooden billboard on Edgware Road.

The black silhouettes have sparked discussion all week about their potential political resonance at a time when the country is gripped by far-right riots, but now the artist has reportedly provided his own explanation for his work.

The Observer Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, reported that his intention with the project was to bring joy to the public with uplifting and surprising moments of joy or amusement, emphasising the human capacity for creativity rather than destruction.

The report adds that audiences can expect more new works from the series “for a few more days.”

The intervention follows a more clearly politically motivated Banksy intervention at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, when an immigrant boat full of mannequins was thrown into the crowd during IDLES’ set on the Other Stage, and again during Little Simz’s performance at Pyramid.

The boat was a visual reference to the ongoing migrant crisis, which became the focus of then-prime minister Rishi Sunak’s immigration policy. The move was criticised by then-Home Secretary James Cleverly, who called it “despicable”.

In response, Banksy said: “Homeland Security called my Glastonbury boat ‘vile and unacceptable’, which I think is a bit of an exaggeration. The real boat I’m funding, the MV Louise Michael, rescued 17 unaccompanied children from the Mediterranean Centre on Monday night. As punishment, the Italian authorities have detained it, which I think is vile and unacceptable.”