R"ats… They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted, and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amidst filth. And yet, they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees.”
Banksy
Blek Le Rat, a French artist (Xavier Prou), stands as one of the seminal figures in the realm of stencil graffiti. In the 1980s, he initiated the practice of spraying in the streets of Paris with depictions of rats. “…rats are the only wildlife species to inhabit urban landscapes, ensuring their survival even after the eventual disappearance and extinction of the human race.” The unmistakable parallels between these nocturnal inhabitants and graffiti artists are readily discernible, with both entities embodying resourcefulness, resilience, and societal marginalization.
“If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.” Banksy
Two decades after Blek Le Rat’s incursion in Paris with his stencilled rats, Banksy perpetuated the artistic movement throughout
England, and subsequently Europe, rekindling the symbol as a form of social commentary. Banksy holds profound admiration for Blek Le Rat’s personality, a source of technical and thematic inspiration. “Every time I think I’ve created something original, it suddenly becomes apparent that Blek Le Rat created it 20 years ago”. “I’d been painting rats for three years before someone said, ‘That’s clever. It’s an anagram of art,’ and I had to pretend I’d known that all along.” Banksy
Derived from this conceptual framework, the imagery of the rat embodies Banksy’s fundamental beliefs as a graffiti artist. Similar to rodents proliferating in response to society’s attempts at pest control, the underground graffiti movement flourishes in defiance of governmental endeavours to expunge street art. Analogous to the war on drugs, engaging in a conflict against rats and graffiti yields no victors, as rats adapt according to available food, while the indomitable spirit of an artist cannot be confined. Both the artist and the rat necessitate incredible determination and astuteness to endure and thrive within a prohibited medium.
“
Catch Banksy! The NYPD (New York Police) stalking artist” headlined the New York Post in October 2013 after statements by New York Mayor billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
The United States, with United Kingdom, have the largest collection of Banksy murals. New York, from 2013, witnessed the passage of the artist through its streets. Few of the city officials were appreciative, least of all its mayor – who helped make New York one of the safest (and cleanest?) cities in the United States.
Already active in Los Angeles in 2002, in 2008 in New Orleans (3 years after the passage of Hurricane Katrina), then in San Francisco in 2010, Banksy found in the United States a particularly fertile ground to practise his art. Themes are numerous, mockery, abyss and ironies are going well and metaphors are rich.
Baudrillard’s famous maxim that “The Gulf War did not take place”, seems to come to life in this poignant work on the pornography of war.
PREGNANT MONKEY, 2006
The pregnant monkey is an interpretation of an iconic Vanity Fair photo of Demi Moore, grotesque and shocking with the cigarette hanging from her mouth.
FLYING COPPER , 2003
The iconic flying copper here becomes an agent of aesthetics rather than oppression, a warm blue background that accentuates the white wings and bright acid yellow smiley face.
This artwork depicts a line of army tanks that are headed in the direction of a man who is holding a sign that reads “Golf Sale” with an arrow underneath, seemingly pointing to the direction of the sale. It references a protest against the Chinese government, when a protestor bravely stood in front of three tanks to stop them from passing. As they tried to move around him, he would once again stand in their way.
Silhouettes of a young boy and a girl, holding their toys in hand, high up on a mountain of weapons. The girl is holding a heart-shaped red balloon on a string. It is another work depicting his iconic balloon girl. The simplicity and severity of the colour contrasts give it both beauty and deeper meaning, making it one of the artist’s more sombre pieces.
This work, based on the terrifying photo of a photo of nineyear-old girl named Kim Phuc, taken during the Vietnam War (1972), is an unashamed attack on consumerism and US Foreign Policy. Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald joyfully hold the little girl by the hand, seeming almost arrogant in their smiles, while this poor girl is screaming, running and trying to get away.
SUBVERTED WORK ORIGINALLY PAINTED BY JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) – BONAPARTE
CROSSING THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD PASS 2018 Avenue de Flandre, 75019, Paris, France
This rather surprising work shows to what extent Banksy is able to reinterpret (or subvert, you will judge for yourself) works of classical painting. Here, it is the painting ‘Bonaparte crossing the Great St. Bernard Pass’ (1800-1803) by Jacques-Louis David. In his version, Banksy retains the majestic posture of the horse, but Bonaparte is replaced by a character imprisoned in the emperor’s cloak. Some will interpret this work as ‘the blindness’ of the French authorities in the face of the migratory phenomenon.
The sentence at the end of this piece “Please take your litter home,” is the most important comment here, illustrating Banksy’s (and all graffiti/street artists’ for that matter) take on what public spaces are for, and what the establishment would like us to believe.
Banksy has been most prolific in his homeland. More than 80% of his works were made in the United Kingdom. London and Bristol (which is believed to be his hometown) have naturally become his favourite playgrounds.
Banksy’s first big known mural is The Mild Mild West , which he made in 1997 on Stokes Croft in Bristol. It represents a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police officers. The first works address themes that Banksy has never abandoned since: anti-conformism, anti-establishment, pacifism, anti-capitalism, which he handled with irony, poetry and mockery as he still does today.
Other ventures in the UK include some important exhibitions:
• Turf War, London, July 2003
• Crude Oils , London, October 2005
• The Cans Festival (collective), London, May 2008
• Banksy vs Bristol Museum , Bristol, June 2009
• Dismaland (collective), Weston-SuperMare, August – September 2015
• Cut & Run, Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art, June – August 2023.
On the side wall of a Poundland store on Whymark Avenue, near High Road in Wood Green (North of London)
Banksy painted this work around mid-May of 2012. A child, kneeling in front of a sewing machine, assembles banners made up of Union Jacks (the flag of the United Kingdom). Today there are still three possible interpretations of this stencil: the first would be a condemnation of the use of children in sweatshops for making goods (Banksy points the finger among others at the chain store Poundland). The second would be a satirical attack on the British monarchy and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen celebrated 60 years on the throne that year. Finally, the last interpretation would be directly linked to the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games which was to be held in London a few weeks later, and which in particular saw souvenir shops proliferating all over the city.