Banksy Marks Valentine’s Day With Powerful Commentary On Domestic Abuse

British street artist Banksy confirmed via his Instagram account on Tuesday that he was behind a new Valentine’s Day-themed mural in Margate, southeast England, that appears to be a commentary on domestic violence against women.

In the piece titled “Valentine’s Day Mascara,” a 1950s housewife with a missing tooth and a swollen eye appears to be shutting her husband into a real freezer.

Trash including an empty beer bottle lies nearby.

It’s the anonymous artist’s first public artwork since his late 2022 trip to Ukraine, where he painted seven pieces in solidarity with locals amid Russia’s invasion.

It’s also in stark contrast to his more whimsical 2020 Valentine’s Day mural in his teenage stomping ground of Barton Hill in Bristol, southwest England, which showed a young girl firing a slingshot at a bunch of red flowers.

It was vandalized within 48 hours, but the artist said he was “kind of glad” because “the initial sketch was a lot better.”

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.