The artwork is made up of nine separate canvases gilded in gold.
Cleverly arranged on a mobile easel, the canvases together form an image of the famous St Mark’s waterfront on the Grand Canal, overshadowed by a looming backdrop of an enormous tourist cruise ship.
The stunt was made public in a video posted online, which was captioned by the anonymous artist himself.
“Setting out my stall at the Venice Biennale,” Banksy wrote.
“Despite being the largest and most prestigious art event in the world, for some reason I’ve never been invited.”
Banksy’s tongue-in-cheek tone perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the creative exploit, which was accompanied by a secretly placed camera recording the impressions of the passersby.
“It’s really good,” an Italian woman said as she observed the work.
“It’s probably the best work we’ve seen at the Biennale.”
The video is accompanied by traditional Italian piano-accordion music, as the camera zooms in on some of the stunning details of the work, depicting gondoliers struggling in the wake of the massive ship and a bow which is precariously headed for a small bridge.
The presence of cruise ships in Venice has caused massive controversy in recent years, with protestors in 2017 using their boats to try and stop the ships from docking.
Activists say that the many ships in tourist season are a conservation risk which eclipses the beauty of the city, floods it with tourists and pollutes the lagoon.
The Italian government under Mayor Luigi Brugnaro will implement a ban on cruise ships from Venice’s Grand Canal, but this will not come into effect until 2021.
Vessels over 100,000 tonnes will be diverted by a new route to neighbouring industrial town, Marghera.
Banksy’s video of his critical artwork ends with a policeman saying “you can’t stay here”, before the anonymous artist wheels the set-up away as a cruise ship sounds its booming horn behind.
Watch Banksy’s video online.
