How the once-provocative Banksy became a parody of himself

Like an artistically-inclined Scarlet Pimpernel, the pseudonymous Banksy has struck again. This week has seen no fewer than three artworks appear on the streets of London that the artist has claimed credit for. There was a goat on top of a wall on Kew Bridge on Monday; two elephants stretching out their trunks towards one another on a house in Chelsea on Tuesday; and Wednesday saw the arrival of three dancing monkeys on a bridge near Brick Lane. Meanwhile, today’s artwork was a stencil of a howling wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham, south London.  It is wholly possible that there will be a steady number of such artworks appearing throughout the week, month or coming years. As James Peak, presenter of The Banksy Story, told the Today programme on Wednesday: “It might be the early days of a wider campaign starting up”. Some might regard this as thrilling – Peak said “How exciting if there was an emerging campaign of pieces to be found around London over the next few days or weeks. He’s got form for that” – and others might see it as attention-seeking from an enfant terrible whose continued ability to attract column inches (indeed,...