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Short Description
Banksy (English, b. 1974) is a graffiti artist whose artwork has appeared
throughout London and other locations around the world. Bansky's artwork is
characterized by striking images, often combined with slogans. His work
regularly engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism,
hypocrisy and greed. Common subjects include rats, apes, policemen,
members of the royal family, and children. In addition to his two-dimensional
work, Banksy is known for his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated
of these pieces, which featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian
wallpaper pattern, sparked controversy among animal rights activists. He was
the subject of a 2010 documentary, "Exit Through the Gift Shop,
”
Banksy’s original
stenciled anti-war piece, Soldiers Painting Peace, became
prominent after it was displayed in a collection at the Tate Britain gallery in
London in 2007. The collection was a recreation of an artistic display outside of
the Houses of Parliament, which was confiscated for supposedly violating a law
against unauthorized protest within a certain distance of the building. In this
painting two soldiers dressed in battle gear warily look around as they conspire
to paint a peace sign on a wall. One is crouching down and holding a machine
gun, while the other is holding a brush that has been dipped into a can of red
paint and is working on completing the sign.
This satirical work by Banksy repudiates the repression of free speech that
often takes place when a nation is at war, in an effort to maintain the
appearance of consensus. In this work men who are armed with deadly
weapons fear for their lives, which highlights that repression in a society may
occur not only a physical but also an intellectual level. This is especially ironic
when the justification for the war is to spread liberty and democracy
Description
CND Soldiers Signed
With POW Certificate of Authenticity
Signed Screenprint on Paper. Numbered and signed by Banksy
2005
50 x 70 cms (27.56 x 19.69 inches unframed size)
Edition 350
Background
This screenprint is one of Banksy’s most iconic works. Juxtaposing the
depiction of soldiers and a peace sign, a gun and a paintbrush, Banksy
addresses the fraught intersections of art and war. Enacting graffiti’s sub-
culture status as physical violence against buildings and conceptual violence
against ideas of social order, the image boldly asserts its disobedience. Setting
soldiers alongside the peace sign makes the soldiers’ physical presence into an
emblem of war, and makes a bold political statement against the
dehumanisation of soldiers. Banksy’s trademark use of black silhouettes
reinforces the symbolism of red; here the dripping paint overtly references the
bloodshed of war, drawing attention to the uncertain role of the military in
achieving peace.
