{"id":372519,"date":"2025-12-26T07:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T07:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372519\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T07:21:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T07:21:24","slug":"rumoured-banksy-reindeer-appears-in-london-fields-before-christmas-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/372519\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumoured Banksy reindeer appears in London Fields before Christmas | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Stencil
\n\t\tThe speculated Banksy piece shows an elegant reindeer decorated with Christmas lights looking towards the sky (Picture: Martyn Wheatley\/i-Images)<\/p>\n

Banksy is believed to have struck a second time in two days, offering an insight into his theme for Christmas 2025.<\/p>\n

The elusive artist is thought to be behind a stencil of a reindeer that appeared on a wall of a disused tennis court changing rooms in London Fields, Hackney, overnight.<\/p>\n

Its majestic antlers are tangled in multicoloured fairy lights hanging from a metal bar attached to the blue wall.<\/p>\n

The work appeared 24 hours after two other pieces- confirmed Banksys \u2013 of children lying on their backs and pointing up at the sky<\/a> in Bayswater and near the Centre Point building.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Stencil
\n\t\tIf Banksy claims the piece as his own, it would be the second time he has struck this Christmas (Picture: Martyn Wheatley\/i-Images)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"A
\n\t\tThe two boys stargazing by Centrepoint appeared on Monday (Picture: Vuk Valcic\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

For the last eight years, Banksy has struck in the run-up to Christmas with work that offers some form of social commentary.<\/p>\n

The unknown artist is yet to confirm the reindeer is his, but the multi-textural fourth-wall-busting nature of the piece is reminiscent of his style.<\/p>\n

The clues that connect the stargazing children and the reindeer?<\/p>\n

Clue 1: A shared gaze
The most obvious connection is that in all three images, the figures are positioned low to the ground, looking upwards.<\/p>\n

Clue 2: Natural vs artificial light
There is a striking contrast in what the figures appear to be looking at. The children point towards what could be a natural light source \u2014 the Star of Bethlehem, perhaps. The reindeer\u2019s gaze, meanwhile, is obstructed by festive fairy lights. Banksy is well known for this kind of juxtaposition: hope versus distraction.<\/p>\n

Clue 3: Timing and repetition
The two stencils appeared exactly 24 hours apart. Coordination or coincidence? Given Banksy\u2019s history of working in short, concentrated bursts, it feels deliberate \u2014 echoing his Concrete Jungle Safari murals, which appeared across London in quick succession.<\/p>\n

Clue 4: Ground level, in the gutter
The placement of the works offers another clue. All three figures sit at the very bottom of the walls they occupy. They exist in the gutter, looking up at the world above them. Banksy often places his most vulnerable subjects quite literally at the margins.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tLatest London news\t\t\t<\/p>\n

To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s London news hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clue 5: Location as message
Centre Point provides the clearest signal, given its long association with homelessness. London Fields is also an area where rough sleepers are regularly visible at night. Bayswater complicates the picture, but perhaps deliberately so \u2014 suggesting the issue is not confined to any one part of the city. It marks a return to Banksy\u2019s familiar themes of vulnerability, displacement and visibility.<\/p>\n

Clue 6: An evolution in form
There is a clear progression in technique. The stargazing figures are flat stencils, while the reindeer introduces physical elements in the form of fairy lights. If this is a Banksy, it marks a shift from two dimensions to mixed media \u2014 a method he has previously used to build narrative momentum rather than simply vary style.<\/p>\n

Will another appear on Christmas Day?
We may only have a matter of hours to find out.<\/p>\n

The Banksy Christmas tradition<\/p>\n

Banksy has a long association with releasing work around Christmas. <\/p>\n

His \u2018Santa\u2019s Ghetto\u2019\u00a0ran intermittently between 2002 and 2007 as a temporary, Christmas-only project staged in improvised locations across London, before concluding in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

One piece saw Jesus Christ being crucified while holding shopping bags, another involved a boy trying to eat snowflakes that were actually ashes from a bin fire.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a selection of his latest pieces over the last few years.<\/p>\n

2024<\/p>\n

\t\t\"https:\/\/trello.com\/c\/Sm70nC1X\/193578-new-banksy\"
\n\t\tMother and Child<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s Mother and Child, unveiled in 2024, shows a woman reminiscent of the Madonna, breastfeeding a baby through a rusty pipe embedded in the wall. <\/p>\n

Dirty water appears to trickle from her breast. Without an explanation offered by the artist, experts hypothesised Banksy was drawing attention to scandals in the Catholic Church that led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n

2023<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Banksy
\n\t\tBanksy\u2019s drones cover a stop sign in London (Picture: Reuters)<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s Christmas anti-war message on a stop sign in Peckham, south London was stolen less than an nhour after the artist confirmed it was his.<\/p>\n

The aircraft on the stop sign replicated those from Banksy\u2019s 2017 artwork Civilian Drone Strike, which had drones bombing a childlike drawing of a house.<\/p>\n

2022<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Banksy\t<\/p>\n

Banksy unveiled his 50 prints of a mouse gripping on to a cardboard box to fund Ukrainian war efforts.<\/p>\n

Agile is thought to represent Ukrainian\u2019s ability to cope and improvise to fight back against Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n

The artist wrote: \u2018I\u2019ve made 50 of these screenprints with all proceeds going to our friends in Ukraine.\u2019<\/p>\n

2021<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Customers
\n\t\tCustomers in Rough Trade in Bristol, with a T-shirt designed by street artist Banksy (Picture:PA)<\/p>\n

Banksy a native Bristolian took up the cause of the Colston 4. The artist designed a t-shirt for the activists eventually acquitted for their role in pushing the statue of slave trader Edward\u00a0Colston\u00a0into Bristol harbour.<\/p>\n

The anonymous artist posted on Instagram pictures of limited edition grey souvenir T-shirts going on sale in Bristol only \u2018to buy them a pint\u2019. The shirts have a picture of Colston\u2019s empty plinth with a rope hanging off, with debris and a discarded sign nearby.<\/p>\n

2020<\/p>\n

\t\t\"A
\n\t\t\u2018Aachoo!!\u2019 by Banksy in Totterdown, Bristol (Picture: REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Aaachoo!! appeared at the bottom of one of the steepest streets in the UK, Vale Street, on 12 December 2020.<\/p>\n

When viewed from road level, it looks as if the woman\u2019s sneeze is so powerful it is blowing the houses over as well as the false teeth out of her mouth.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"A
\n\t\t(Picture Reuters)<\/p>\n

It is widely seen as Banksy\u2019s take on the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK\u2019s first major lockdown began on\u00a0March 23, 2020.<\/p>\n

2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Undated
\n\t\tScar of Bethlehem (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s warped version of a nativity scene is the Scar of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

It depicts a modern wartorn Bethlehem wall with the traditional Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus in the stable. Instead of the Star of Bethlehem guiding the wise men, the artist swaps it for a mortar hole.<\/p>\n

The installation\u00a0was unveiled at Banksy\u2019s re-opened Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, which offered \u2018the worst view of any hotel in the world\u2019.<\/p>\n

2018<\/p>\n

\t\t\"File
\n\t\tBanksy\u2019s Seasons Greetings (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s Season\u2019s Greetings which depicts a message about the impact of pollution on communities and appeared on the outside of a steelworker\u2019s private garage in Taibach, Port Talbot in 2018. <\/p>\n

The figure of the boy is believed to have been replicated in his latest Bayswater stargazing work in Bayswater. Banksy is not known to repeat his characters often.<\/p>\n

2017<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Bethlehem:
\n\t\tPeace on Earth (Picture: PA)<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s ironic Peace on Earth message depicts a small print of \u2018terms and conditions apply\u2019 on the border between Israel and Palestine in 2017.<\/p>\n

The Christmas Star\u00a0is used as an asterisk highlighting the futility of the conflict in the region.<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Phone snatching victim tracks down stash of stolen devices buried in London flowerbed<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Trump and Melania look more miserable than The Grinch in their Christmas card<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: The most criminally underrated Christmas film ever deserves recognition 13 years later<\/a><\/p>\n


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