Banksy is back in New York, the first time since his month-long residency back in 2013.
The iconic street artist kicked off his visit with a mural dedicated to the imprisonment of Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan, who’s watercolor painting protests the continued destruction of Kurdish territory by the Turkish military.
The black hash marks represent each of the days since Dogan has been in jail. Turkish authorities incarcerated her last March.
“I really feel for her. I’ve painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence,” Banksy told the New York Times.
Fresh off The Walled Off Hotel project in Bethlehem where he also teamed up with producer Danny Boyl to put together a film called ‘The Alternativity’, it appears that Banksy is making the Big Apple his canvass again.
“New York calls to graffiti writers like a dirty old lighthouse. We all want to prove ourselves here. I chose it for the high foot traffic and the amount of hiding places. Maybe I should be somewhere more relevant, like Beijing or Moscow, but the pizza isn’t as good.”
Be sure to follow Banksy to keep up with the rat race in New York.
Mural images via the Houston Bowery Wall