B orn and bred in Bristol, Banksy has achieved a now legendary status that teeters between acclaim and notoriety for his distinctive style of satirical street art and graffiti. His work is rich in dark humor and frequently captioned with subversive epigrams that provide pejorative commentaries on socio-political aspects of contemporary life. Seeking to disturb and disrupt the status-quo through his interrogative and anti-establishmentarian practice, Banksy has epitomized his own mission with the adage: ‘Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable’ – a modern day take on the turn-of-the-century American satirist Finley Peter Dunne’s declaration that the duty of a newspaper is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” (Finley Peter Dunne cited in Dean P. Turnbloom, Ed., Prizewinning Political Cartoons: 2010 Edition, Gretna 2010, p. 146). Throughout his career Banksy’s art has been frequently dismissed as crass or glib; yet in spite of this, his work can be seen to fit into a rich and venerable history of political parody. From the British pictorial satirists of the Eighteenth Century, including Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and, of course, the great William Hogarth, through to the allegorical writings of George Orwell whose revolutionary novel Animal Farm similarly utilized zoological symbolism to critique modern society, and on to the political cartoonists of the present day, Banksy’s finest work is situated within an esteemed tradition of raising an unforgiving and illuminating mirror up to the world.

The chimpanzee has appeared as a recurring motif in Banksy’s oeuvre since 2002, when the artist produced a six-meter-long stenciled graffiti work entitled Laugh Now. The work depicts a row of subservient apes wearing aprons, some of which bear the inscription ‘Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge'. It has since become one of Banksy’s most iconic and widely disseminated images, making headlines in 2008 when the original artwork sold successfully at auction, breaking the record for the artist at the time. In 2009, Banksy created Devolved Parliament as a homage to the earlier work; and in 2019, upon the exhibition of Devolved Parliament ten years on from its execution, Banksy wryly declared on his Instagram account: “Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge”. Striking for its simple and raw immediacy, the power of Banksy’s work lies not only in its easy-accessibility and instant-gettability, but in his incisive wit and reliably anarchic and rebellious spirit. Commenting on the artist's modus operandi, Patrick Potter has stated, “By laughing at the spectacle we undermine its power and make room for a bit of original thought” (Patrick Potter, Banksy: You are an acceptable level of threat and if you were not you would know about it, Durham 2012, n.p.).

Banksy’s derisive art has provoked divisive opinion, granting him a reputation of infamy as much as world renown; but love him or hate him, it is indisputable that his bold, subversive and pivotal artistic voice has earned him an established place within contemporary art history. Don’t laugh – he’s already in charge.

出 生並成長於英國布里斯托的班克斯，憑著諷刺現實的街頭藝術及獨一無二的塗鴉風格，名聲毀譽參半，卻仍堪稱為藝術界傳奇人物。他的作品充滿黑色幽默，經常附有具顛覆意味的字句，犀利地批判現代社會現象。班克斯以質詢的姿態和反體制的取向，嘗試干擾甚至推翻現狀，他的格言就是：「藝術應撫慰不安者，並令安逸者感到不安」。這是對20世紀初美國諷刺作家芬利．彼得．鄧恩（Finley Peter Dunne）的名言的現代化詮譯；鄧恩曾指出，新聞報刊的使命是要「使受苦者得安慰，令安逸者受苦」（引述自芬利．彼得．鄧恩，載於迪恩．P．圖爾布洛姆（Dean P. Turnbloom）編，《獲獎政治漫畫集：2010版》，格雷特納，2010年，頁146）。班克斯的藝術創作往往被貶為粗俗或無禮，儘管如此，他的藝術依然值得被歸類為政治嘲諷作品。這個藝術類別源遠流長，從英國18世紀的托馬斯・羅蘭森（Thomas Rowlandson）、詹姆斯・吉里（James Gillrary）、鼎鼎大名的威廉・賀加斯（William Hogarth）等諷刺畫家，還有以《動物農莊》暗諷政治醜態的喬治・奧威爾（George Orwell），以至今時今日的政治漫畫家，班克斯秉承了這個優良的傳統，為世界舉起一塊不留情面卻又發人深省的鏡子。

在2002年一幅長達六米的模板塗鴉《現在儘管笑吧，終有一天我們將為主宰者》中，班克斯的黑猩猩首度亮相，自此經常出現在其創作中。《現在儘管笑吧，終有一天我們將為主宰者》展示一整排卑躬屈膝、穿著圍裙的黑猩猩，當中某些圍裙上寫著「你現在儘管笑，但有一天我們會是主宰。」這成為了其中一個班克斯最標誌性及最廣為流傳的創作圖像，而這幅作品更於2008年打破了班克斯當時的拍賣紀錄，成為一時佳話。在2009年，班克斯創作了《權力下放國會》向前作致敬。2019年，在這幅作品的十週年展覽期間，班克斯挖苦地在自己的Instagram上表示：「你現在儘管笑，但終有一日無人會是主宰。」班克斯這幅簡單直接的作品帶有強烈的衝擊性，而這份衝擊不只因為作品被廣泛地流傳，更來自班克斯當中流露的機智和反政府的革命精神。帕特里克．波特（Patrick Potter）如此形容這位藝術家的「犯案手法」：「透過嘲笑，我們可以削弱對象的力量，並為創新思維騰出空間」（帕特里克．波特，《班克斯：你只是一個合理程度的威脅，如果不是你自然會知道》，杜咸，2012年，無頁數）。班克斯的諷刺藝術引發了林林總總的評價，讓他背上罵名，卻又無人不曉。儘管大眾對這位藝術家又愛又恨，他大膽叛逆的藝術信念有著舉足輕重的影響力，足以奠定他在當代藝術界裡無可取代的地位。不要笑——他已經是主宰。