Luke Cornish knows controversy — within weeks of being finished, his mural at Bondi Beach was subject to calls for removal, fierce debate, and vandalism.

Key points: The artist behind the controversial Bondi mural will launch a new exhibition in Canberra

The artist behind the controversial Bondi mural will launch a new exhibition in Canberra The exhibition features works inspired by trips to Syria, and controversy around the mural

The exhibition features works inspired by trips to Syria, and controversy around the mural Luke Cornish says his goal is to provoke discussion and critical thought about political issues

But the artist said the goal of his new exhibition was to make people think critically, and question what was happening around them.

Originally from Canberra, Cornish has returned to the capital to launch the exhibition at the Australian National University's aMBUSH Gallery.

The show features works from his trips to Syria, alongside others done after controversy erupted around his work at Bondi Beach.

The mural at Bondi, which he said was about suicides in immigration detention facilities, was vandalised with white paint earlier this month, two weeks after it was finished.

"I think the damaged mural is far more powerful than the original because it's become almost a shrine with people scrawling positive messages, people are even leaving flowers," he said.

"So I think it has started the conversation I wanted people to have."

The Bondi mural was smeared with white paint earlier this month. ( Supplied )

He said the idea to use the event in his latest works came to him quickly.

"I knew I needed to make something surrounding that controversy," Cornish said.

"I knew I needed something that had an element of humour, something that wasn't as confronting as the Bondi mural.

"It's not a response, it's just a documentation of what happened and what is likely going to continue to happen to people who continue to speak out."

He said the line at the bottom of his new piece "and then they came for the artists" was a reference to a 1946 poem on the rise of authoritarianism in Germany.

The new exhibition is entitled Have a Go — a reference to a quote by Prime Minister Scott Morrison when the federal election was called — and features more of Cornish's dark stencil work, depicting not just border force agents but also the cyber group Anonymous.

Cornish borrowed a favoured phrase of Prime Minister Scott Morrison for the exhibition's title. ( Supplied )

"I don't expect everyone to like the show," he said.

"It's very dark and it's very confronting but I think that's what we need.

"If you want to get people's attention you have to punch people in the face."

Cornish said ideally he wanted to challenge people's perceptions and make them think critically.

"If it can motivate or inspire someone to critically analyse what's happening in this country that'd be fantastic," he said.