A university graduate paid 'homage' to Banksy with a new artwork in Birmingham.
The artwork was designed to spotlight the rise of homelessness during the winter months and encourage support for SIFA Fireside, a homelessness support charity .
Created by BCU School of Art graduate Dion Kitson, the sculpture depicts Santa lying on a bench, echoing the figure in Banksy's "God bless Birmingham " from 2019.
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Wrapped in fairy lights, the piece invites viewers to consider the vulnerability and invisibility of people sleeping rough at the coldest point of the year.
The artwork is a collaboration between Kitson, Ikon, the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) and Birmingham City University.
Linzi Stauvers, Ikon Artistic Director (Education), said: "Birmingham has some great public art, including historic pieces of graffiti.
"Over time, these works can get overlooked and their social commentary dampened.
"Unfortunately, this is the case with Birmingham's Banksy, which is barely visible behind layers of perspex and condensation.
"Dion Kitson's sculptural response is not only a homage to another artist, but an acknowledgement of their call to action.
"As a temporary intervention, it aims to amplify a message about the homelessness that is experienced by many Birmingham residents, including children and young people, this Christmas."
David Mahony, Jewellery Quarter Development Trust, said, "It's important that our public spaces reflect the realities facing our communities.
"Homelessness affects many people across the UK, including here in Birmingham.
"By using the Banksy site as the setting for an annual winter intervention, we can draw on the Jewellery Quarter's creativity to focus attention on those who need it most during the colder months and direct support to organisations like SIFA Fireside."
Andrew Kulman, Course Leader for MA Visual Communication and Professor of Graphic Art at Birmingham City University said, "The School of Art has made significant contributions to public art in Birmingham.
"From the city's sculptor and Head of Sculpture, William Bloye (Hall of Memory and 'Golden Boys'), to more recently, Luke Perry (Forward Together).
"They are joined by recent graduate, Dion Kitson, whose interventions have been appearing across the city.
"It was an obvious choice to select Dion to respond to the Banksy mural in the Jewellery Quarter - he shares the same guerrilla approach and there's often parody and satire in both their work.
"Working together with Ikon and the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust has offered a perfect partnership and solution."
During the first two days the artwork was on display, volunteers, posing as security staff, collected donations from visitors via QR codes.
All funds raised went directly to SIFA Fireside, supporting their work with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.