Banksy attacks McDonald's in new sculpture

Ronald McDonald's shoes are shined by a real-life boy

Banksy has taken aim at McDonald's in the latest artwork to emerge from his month-long "residency" on the streets of New York.

The fibreglass replica of Ronald McDonald is a live-action sculpture titled "Shoe Shine". Ronald and the young man hired to polish his considerable boots are visiting McDonald's restaurants around the city this week.

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An audio guide on the artist's website said Banksy created the artwork – whose face is that of Praxiteles' bust of the Greek God Hermes – with the help of two people.

It went on to discuss the inspiration behind the piece, saying: "Ronald was adopted as the official mascot of the McDonald's fast food corporation chain in 1966.

"Fibreglass versions of his likeness have been installed outside restaurants ever since, thus making Ronald arguably the most sculpted figure in history after Christ."

The sculpture, the voice-over continued, is, "a critique of the heavy labour required to sustain the polished image of a mega-corporation.

"Is Ronald's statuesque pose indicative of how corporations have become the historical figures of our era? Does this figure have feet of clay and a massively large footprint to boot?"