Entry Point 1: Punk 05

Flying Copper

2003 Silkscreen print 100x70 cm

Banksy’s Flying Copper is one of the artist’s first iconic images, made in a public space using various techniques. An installation of the work was made using gigantic figures, created with a stencil on contoured paper and hung to the ceiling during the exhibition Turf War, Banksy’s first major show, held in 2003 in a warehouse in London’s East End. Some of the silhouettes of Flying Copper were later put up around London and Vienna; an installation of the work then appeared again in London in front of Shoreditch Bridge. Part of this installation was removed anonymously and reappeared in the 2012 documentary How to Sell a Banksy. The image depicts a policeman in riot gear with his face covered by the artist’s famous “smiley” face. We find the symbolism of the smile contrasted with the gun, that is, oppression and threat can hide behind the face of those who are supposed to protect us, highlighting the ambiguity of power. Flying Copper highlights the duality of the role of these custodians of peace that, at the same time, can transform into a threat to peace itself, encouraging viewers to practice a healthy dose of scepticism towards those in power.

I Fought the Law

2004 Silkscreen print 70x70 cm

The main scene depicted in this image is taken from the video documenting the March 30, 1981, attack on US President Ronald Reagan, outside the Hilton hotel in Washington. The would be assassin was a man named John Hinkley; struggling with mental health issues, he was convinced that actress Jodie Foster would have been positively impressed if he had succeeded in assassinating the President. Hinkley fired five shots with no fatalities. In Banksy’s interpretation of events, however, Hinkley’s hand reaches out not for a gun, as in the original video, but a brush lying immobile on the ground after having been used to write the words "I fought the law and I won" on the wall behind the crime scene. The phrase, also the title of this work, is actually the title of a song written by Sonny Curtis in 1958 of which Banksy quotes the version performed by British punk group the Clash in 1979. Through the artist's typical compositional feature, obtained by building new meanings through unprecedented relationships between references of a popular nature, the themes explored in this image refer to the works where the artist considers freedom of expression as being a powerful weapon. Among this series of works, the most explicit is arguably Choose Your Weapon an image which appeared in 2010 in South London, which depicts a man in a sweatshirt with a masked face leading a dog painted in style of the American artist Keith Haring: once again underlining the complex cultural mix that makes up the fertile terrain from which the artist’s images spring forth.

Cloud DJ

1998-1999 Spray paint and acrylic on board 71x74 cm

Cloud DJ is one of Banksy’s earliest works. The image depicted appears for the first time on the walls of Bristol documented in Banksy’s selfpublished book: Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall as an uncommisioned stencil on wall.

Rodeo Girl

2008 Giclee print on paper 30x39 cm

Rodeo Girl was created by Banksy on the occasion for the Cans Festival which he organized in 2008 in a disused tunnel in London at Leake Street, in Waterloo. The festival features artists working in the public space using stencil technique invited by Banksy himself from all over the world. From Italy, Sten Lex, Lucamaleonte and Orticanoodles were invited. To each artist participated the festival, Banksy gives one of these prints he personally signs and dedicates to each of them.

Di-Faced Tenners

2004

In 2004, Banksy printed one million pounds’ worth of 10 pound banknotes, known as Di-Faced Tenners. The word “Tenners” is the slang used to refer to 10 pound notes, while the other part of the title is a play on words: the term “defaced” is a reference to Banksy replacing the image of Queen Elizabeth with the face of Diana Spencer, known as Lady D. In this context, “Di-Faced” can also be interpreted as “with D’s face”. Essentially, D-Faced Tenners can be seen as either 10 pound banknotes depicting Lady D and at the same time, defaced 10 pound banknotes. Above, at the centre of the note, are the words “Banksy of England” in place of “Bank of England”. This project was presented for the first time at the Notting Hill Carnival in London, where the artist launched wads of banknotes into the crowd (the same year, Banksy did the same thing at the Reading Festival). Some of the banknotes were used by the public to make purchases.

Love Rat

2004 Silkscreen print 50x35 cm

Rats are one of Banksy’s most oft-used motifs, “They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth. And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees.” The artist draws a parallel between rats and the condition of street artists, warning us against the quiet but ambiguous multitudes. Banksy’s rats are often thought to have been borrowed from the repertoire of another street artist, the Frenchman Blek Le Rat, who during the 1980s disseminated his rodent inspired artworks throughout Paris with a vision similar to that of the British artist. Banksy’s Love Rat is depicted with a large paintbrush in his hand as he finishes painting a red heart on an invisible wall. The symbolism suggests that street art—it doesn’t matter how insignificant it can seem at first—is worthy of love and that these little contributions can have a positive impact on the surrounding community.

Get Out While You Can

2004 Silkscreen print 50x33 cm

Banksy draws a parallel between rodents and the condition of street artists and transforms the image of the rats designed by the French artist Blek Le Rat, who throughout the 1980s threw them up around Paris. This work is part of a series known as Placard Rats, which has appeared numerous times, especially in London. The Placard Rats series shows an indignant rat holding up a protest sign that says, in this version, “Get out while you can”. Others have phrases like, “Because I’m worthless” and “Welcome to hell”. Even though the rat is wearing a necklace with a peace sign, it seems to be intent on fighting against its marginalization.