Lot 2
  • 2

Banksy, Bomb Middle England

bidding is closed

Description

  • Banksy
  • Bomb Middle England
  • Stenciled with the artist's name
  • Spray paint on plaster
  • 70 by 210 cm, 27 1/2 by 82 3/4 in.
  • Executed in 2002. This work is accompanied by a certificate from Pest Control.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist

Catalogue Note

Having risen from humble beginnings in Bristol as an outsider even within the subculture of graffiti art, Banksy is arguably one of the most famous artists of this generation.
Alongside others, Banksy is accredited with graffiti’s transition from ‘bubble writing’ and aerosol abstracts to the narrative-driven ‘street art’. Plastering cities with his trademark rat or painting imagined openings in the West Bank barrier between Israel and Palestine, Banksy has an international reputation that precedes his anonymous identity.
However, beyond the streets, Banksy has pioneered the use of alternative venues and forms for display as seen in his 2003 Turf War warehouse exhibition, his large number of Di-Faced Tenners, counterfeit £10 notes produced and given away following the death of Lady Diana Spencer. Banksy’s latest project was the temporary theme park Dismaland, constructed in the seaside resort town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. Prepared in secret at a disused lido, Dismaland opened during the weekend of 21 August 2015 and closed permanently on September 27 same year. When Dismaland closed its doors, it was decided that the leftovers should be recycled and turned into shelters for displaced migrants at the migrant camp near Calais, France.