Banksy’s take on Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” updated with the symbolic blue face mask of coronavirus, Bristol, UK
Graffiti has never been so powerful—or urgent. And, in the case of the famed and elusive Banksy, noble. In the past months of the coronavirus pandemic, local artists have used the walls and sidewalks of their cities and towns as canvases. As the shutdowns crossed Italy, Spain, Germany, the U.K., India and the U.S., the Krylon cans came out. Filled with technicolor Covid-19 balls and crowns and faces and hands covered by PPE, these murals exhibit fear and fury, solidarity and hope—and nearly universal gratitude to health care workers.
The outbreak has robbed millions of their livelihoods and ability to shake hands and hug. But not the desire or defiance to hit the empty pavement to create outdoor art galleries. Here are the fresh arrivals to our streets, ready and waiting for the grand reopening.
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Mural of Steve Jobs in a face mask , Novosibirsk, Russia, May 20.
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Coronavirus-inspired graffiti by Scottish street artist The Rebel Bear, Glaskow, April 4.
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New take on famous Berlin Wall painting of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing: Today, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump wearing face masks, Berlin, April 27.
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Atchoum! — meaning sneeze, Paris, April 20.
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Trumpet master Louis Armstrong wearing protective gloves and face mask, New Orleans, April 24.
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“Super nurse” by Amsterdam-based street artist FAKE, April 24. Graffiti in support of the NHS, London, May 12.
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“Our Nurses Our Saints,” by graffiti artist Bandit, New Orleans, April 3.
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Stencil graffiti of actors John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson In their roles in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” wearing face masks, Madrid, May 3.
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World map affected with cornonavirus, Mumbai, May 3.
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Graffiti artwork showing a man wearing a protective mask.
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Message of coronavirus love in Brooklyn, May 9.
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Youth wearing a face mask against telling backdrop, Mumbai, April 4.
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Dark graffiti themes in Jaipur, April 15, and a railway station, Barcelona, May 11.
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Graffiti on the theme of virus outbreaks in election years, Berlin, March 15.
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