Horenka, Sadova 21 2022

Banksy made this poignant mural in Horenka, Ukraine, using stencils and spray paint on a war-torn building. There’s something so stark about that solid black against the damaged wall. It gets you thinking about the raw process of artmaking itself, about how art can emerge in unexpected places, even amid destruction. The texture of the wall is key here: that rough, broken surface is as important as the image. Look at the edges of the girl in the tub, how the paint almost bleeds into the crumbling plaster. It’s this interplay between the crisp lines of the stencil and the chaotic reality of the site that really hits you. Each little drip, each crack in the wall, tells a story about endurance and vulnerability. Banksy's work always reminds me a bit of Barbara Kruger - that directness, that punch. Both artists use a kind of visual shorthand to get straight to the heart of things. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be pretty; sometimes, it just needs to be real.