Banksy

Banksy is an anonymous artist who lives in Britain. He is best known for his artwork, which normally utilises the power of spray paints as the main method. His sense of dark humour mixed with his distinctive technique gives his art a unique punch.

TURFWAR

Banksy’s most well known piece of art is TURFWAR. It depicts Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the UK, with a head with hair made of grass, hence the word turf in the name. However, there is a deeper meaning to this name, and the art – that war is just an overexaggerated squabble for territory, that is often unnecessary. This piece of art was used by Banksy to redesign the view people had on Churchill, and also as a tool to subtly represent his opinion on war at the time.

MONKEY QUEEN

This piece of art by Banksy is a quintessential example of Banksy’s daring humour. It represents everything that the Queen would normally be – all but the actual body of the Queen herself. Instead, it is replaced by a monkey. But then. Banksy goes all in with his daring humour. Behind the Queen, the the Union Jack is there, but the the flag appear to look more like a target. The satirical image overtly criticises the British monarchy. Aligning the Queen with a primitive animal, the artist suggests that he believes the country is being run by mindless monkeys, and that they have taken over the country.

GRIN REAPER

Grin Reaper is a prime example of Banksy’s dark humour. It is also amongst the earliest known works of art by the artist. Unfortunately most of these early works were covered up in London’s anti-graffiti sweep, which happened in 2007. However Banksy decided to reproduce the figure in a giant series of 300 in 2005. In this work of art, the face of the reaper has been replaced with a neon yellow “smiley face”, which can be associated with the rave culture which was popular in the 90s. It is also used by Banksy in other pieces of art, such as the Flying Copper. In the hand of the reaper is the symbolic scythe, and his skeletal feet are swinging over the clock face, which reads five minutes till midnight. This leads to even more speculation suggesting that this may be the Doomsday clock; a visual metaphor which represents the likelihood of a global catastrophe made by humans.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS – CANCELLED

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS – CANCELLED is one of the earliest murals Banksy realized in the U.S.A. Having intentionally drawn out a despaired old man, this points out the severity of the political and the economic environment, and the effect it can have on the celebrated “American Dream”. Sometimes the dream is cancelled, and reality has struck hard.