The mischief-making graffiti man known as Banksy has set up stall (literally) in Venice. The British street artist has posted a video on Instagram showing a mystery figure assembling a set of pictures on the waterfront near St Mark's Square in the style of a local artist and street vendor. A sign with the words Venice in Oil is hoisted alongside a series of suitably tacky images which, when seen together, depict a humongous cruise ship dwarfing gondoliers and local landmarks (the pollution and problems caused by the vast cruising vessels sailing down the Grand Canal continue to blight La Serenissima).
In the Insta film, appreciative Italians say that Banksy's works are "really beautiful" but without a permit, the artist is forced to move on after local police step in. A figure draped in black is seen leaving the scene as a ship's foghorn bellows in the background. Banksy writes that "despite being the largest and most prestigious art event in the world, for some reason I've never been invited [to the Venice Biennale]". The artist has form in Venice though; the japester appears to have left his mark on the lagoon city by recently leaving a stencil of a migrant child wearing a lifejacket holding aloft a fizzing neon pink flare.
