Elusive artist Banksy recently surprised a UK hospital with a new piece of art to salute medical staff braving the coronavirus pandemic.
The framed artwork, now at Southampton General Hospital, shows a boy playing with a new superhero toy — a nurse wearing a medical face mask and a cape, with discarded Batman and Spider-Man action figures in a trash can nearby. The super nurse also wears an apron emblazoned with a red cross — the only spot of color on the otherwise black-and-white illustration.
“Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if (it’s) only black and white,” Banksy wrote in a note left with the piece, titled “Game Changer,” at the southern England hospital, according to the Associated Press.
“The fact that Banksy has chosen us to recognize the outstanding contribution everyone in and with the NHS is making, in unprecedented times, is a huge honor,” Paula Head, chief executive of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, told the BBC. She added that the gesture was a “massive boost to morale” for both health-care workers and patients at the facility.
“It will be really valued by everyone in the hospital as people get a moment in their busy lives to pause, reflect and appreciate this piece of art,” she said. The artwork will remain at the hospital until the fall, after which it will be auctioned off for charity.
This wasn’t the only piece of art that has taken up the elusive artist’s time during the COVID-19 crisis. Last month, he revealed an in-home lockdown project depicting rodents taking over his bathroom.
