Banksy's famous 'Girl with a Pierced Eardrum' gets coronavirus retouching amid pandemic

Banksy is celebrated as a post-modern art genius by his millions of followers around the world and in an interesting spin of things, his iconic Girl with a Pierced Eardrum mural recently underwent a contemporary retouching in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

As the United Kingdom continues to struggle with over 138,000 cases of COVID-19 infection, the anonymous British artist's Girl with a Pierced Eardrum mural painted on a harbourside building wall in Bristol appeared with a blue surgical face mask similar to those worn by health care workers. It hasn't been established if Banksy put the face mask on the artwork himself.

Read: Banksy Unveils His Latest 'rat-infested' Graffiti As He Works From Bathroom Amid Lockdown

Take a look:

The updated mural did not feature on Banksy's Instagram page where he has been posting his work since 2013. The Girl with a Pierced Eardrum mural is a comic take on Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's 17th-century painting Girl With a Pearl Earring, with Banksy replacing the pearl jewellery for a security alarm. The mural was first reported to have been sighted in October 2014.  

Read: 10 Influential Artworks By The Elusive Graffiti Painter Banksy To Beat Quarantine Blues

Banky's latest work 

The coronavirus pandemic has already inspired Banksy's work as the artist gave a rare insight into his home life with his latest rat-infested bathroom graffiti. The artist unveiled his latest artwork on Instagram as he shared pictures of his bathroom walls covered in his famous rat charcoal stencil drawings. 

Banksy's quarantine artwork is a series of five pictures that show rats having a ball in his bathroom — squirting toothpaste, hanging from light fixtures, swinging form towel hooks, wheeling on toilet roll and even taking a leak on the toilet seat.

The artist even mentioned that his 'wife hates it when he works from home' in the caption to the post. The viral post has received over 2.4 million likes on Instagram and has been widely shared on other social media platforms as well. 

Read: Banksy's Amazing Murals Can Be Found In These Places When In London

Take a look at it here: 

Banksy's iconic artworks 

The anonymous British artist was first sported for his graffitis in as early as the 1990s and has been active on the streets of the United Kingdom for about three decades now.

Banksy catapulted to millennial fame in 2018 for his iconic Girl with a Balloon painting that self shredded in a trap frame designed by the artist himself, seconds after it was sold for over $1.02 million (£1 million) at an auction. The artwork is said to have doubled in value after that and the painting, which has been since renamed Love is in the Bin, is now valued for at least $2.04 million (£2 million) by art experts.

Read: Banksy's Valentine's Day Mural Vandalised With Offensive Phrases