Banksy Just Took A Dig At Overtourism In Venice With An Unauthorized Art Installation Stunt

Banksy has produced an artwork for the Venice Biennale art festival.

A video shared by the street artist shows his new work Venice In Oil, which is made from nine individually framed painted sections and features a large cruise liner surrounded by famous Venetian scenery.

Street artist in Venice youtu.be

The video shows it being installed in St Mark's Square.

The image appears to satirize the controversial practice of bringing large cruise vessels to Venice, showing a ship dwarfing surrounding gondolas and landmarks including the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Campanile.

The colors used and heavy gold frames surrounding each section are reminiscent of Canaletto's famous landscapes of the Italian city.

banksyfilm/YouTube

The video posted by Banksy to social media shows mixed reactions from Venetians walking by his artwork, before the camera pans out to reveal a cruise ship anchored in the waters nearby.

Banksy wrote on Instagram:

“Setting out my stall at the Venice Biennale."

“Despite being the largest and most prestigious art event in the world, for some reason I've never been invited."

Banksy's video comes a week after a piece of graffiti appeared on the walls of a canal in the Italian city which many suspected to also be his.

The stenciled artwork portrayed a migrant child wearing a life jacket and holding a burning pink neon flare.

Banksy has not claimed yet claimed the flare piece, but many on social media attributed it to him due to its similar style, with one user appearing to see his latest video as confirmation of the earlier artwork, posting:

“Thanks Banksy I knew it!"