Banksy Sends Haunting Environmental Message With New Holiday Street Art

The street artist Banksy  confirmed on Wednesday that he was behind a haunting new mural in Port Talbot, Wales. 

The apparent environmental message behind his newest mural is probably best understood by watching a video he posted to Instagram, captioned “Season’s greetings.”

The clip, set to the tune of children’s holiday song “Little Snowflake,” begins by showing the elusive street artist’s painting of a child, who is seemingly playing contentedly in the snow, on one side of a garage.

The camera pans out to show the other side of the building and reveals the youngster is actually standing under falling ash from a dumpster fire. A drone then soars into the sky to show the town’s steelworks and industrial chimneys spewing out smoke behind.

Locals in the hometown of actors Anthony Hopkins, Michael Sheen and the late Richard Burton first spotted the art on Tuesday. Banksy, who originally hails from Bristol in southwest England, confirmed he was the artist soon after.

Steelworker Ian Lewis, who owns the garage, told ITV News he thought Banksy had chosen Port Talbot for the piece after the World Health Organization apologized in May for fudging statistics and erroneously concluding it was the most polluted town in the United Kingdom. The local council cordoned off the mural to protect it.

Check out more photographs of Banksy’s latest piece, and the crowds who have flocked to see it: