Banksy reveals cracks in EU since BREXIT, Dover Street Art 2017

Banksy has confirmed a new Brexit mural in Dover, England, showing a worker chipping away one of the stars from the European Union flag.

 Positioned close to the ferry terminal, one of Britain’s principal gateways to continental Europe, the work depicts a labourer standing on a ladder and chipping away one of the twelve stars from the European Union flag. Cracks spread across the blue surface as the star is removed, turning one of Europe’s most familiar political symbols into an image of fracture.

 The location gives the mural much of its force. Dover is a major crossing point between Britain and France, with ferries travelling regularly between Dover and Calais. Banksy’s intervention places the visual language of Brexit directly onto a landscape defined by movement between the UK and Europe.

The work arrives less than a year after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in the referendum of 23 June 2016. The result was narrowly divided, with 51.89% voting Leave and 48.11% voting Remain.

On 29 March 2017, the UK government formally triggered Article 50, beginning the process of withdrawing from the European Union and placing Britain on course to leave the bloc in 2019.

Banksy offers no accompanying slogan or explanation. Instead, the image is left to carry the political tension itself: one star is being removed, but the cracks are already beginning to spread.