A true mascot of Banksy’s early street interventions, Love Rat turns the most reviled of urban pests into an unlikely poet of passion. Stenciled in stark black on raw wooden planks, the rat, sometimes seen as Banksy’s sly alter ego, clutches a lipstick like a weapon, having just graffitied a bleeding red heart. The grain of the wood, complete with screws and knots, emphasizes the work’s ephemeral, guerrilla origins, yet the image is disarmingly tender.

The rat, often a symbol of disease or decay, becomes here a messenger of love—albeit one smeared, urgent, and imperfect. The heart drips like fresh blood or wet paint, suggesting both violence and vulnerability. As always with Banksy, the joke cuts deep: affection in a brutal world is a radical act. Love Rat doesn’t just survive the city—it paints over it.