The elusive graffiti artist Banksy has addressed the ongoing refugee crisis in a series of new works created in and around the French northern coastal town of Calais, where he reinstalled his theme park Dismaland, including a mural featuring Apple guru Steve Jobs.

Sprayed on a wall in a refugee camp nicknamed the “jungle,” the artist painted the late Apple co-founder carrying an early Macintosh computer and a black trash bag, clearly referencing to Jobs’ father, who arrived to the United States from Syria after the Second World War.

“Maybe this whole situation will just sort itself out.”
Photo: via banksy.co.uk

According to the New York Times, Banksy—who rarely speaks publicly about his work—issued a statement via his spokeswoman: “We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources, but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant. Apple is the world’s most profitable company, it pays over $7 billion a year in taxes—and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs,” the artist said.

The street artist also sprayed the sentence “Maybe this whole situation will just sort itself out” on a separate wall in the camp, as a comment on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in northern France.

Banksy’s take on Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa.
Photo: via banksy.co.uk

Meanwhile, in the center of Calais, Banksy painted a variation of Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa (1818 – 1819), except that the graffiti artist’s version depicts a raft full of migrants trying to get the attention of a passing cruise ship. On the website of the artist, the work has the caption: “We’re not all in the same boat.”

The last work in this series by the British street artist appeared at a beach in the coastal town. It depicts a child looking out to sea through a telescope with a vulture sitting on top of it.

Banksy painted four new works across the French coastal town of Calais.
Photo: via banksy.co.uk

Banksy has been a visible critic of the handling of the refugee crisis. In September, the artist announced that he would send the materials from his Dismaland theme park to the Calais refugee camp, to be used to build shelters for the camp’s inhabitants. Last month, Pussy Riot went to Dismaland to film the music video for their last song, Refugees In, which addresses the same subject.