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
Banksy Morons
EDITION
• 100 LA Edition – Unsigned White (signed and unsigned) • 500 POW Edition – Unsigned White • 300 POW Edition – Signed Sepia • 150 POW Edition – Signed White Size 56x76cm
With banksy POW stamp, ( the LA donthave any stamp)
Morons is one of Banksy's harshest critiques toward the art market, and is a biting graffiti art print.
The Banksy print Morons it first appeared on Banksy’s site soon after a record breaking auction result for one of his canvases. Along with Trolleys, Applause, Sale Ends, Festival and Grannies, the Morons was originally released as an unsigned edition of 100 at Banksy’s 2006 show Barely Legal in LA, printed by Modern Multiples. Numbered out of 500, only 100 of this particular edition were ever put up for sale. There are a limited number of signed prints in circulation from the LA edition (low edition numbers and proofs), but these never went on general sale.
The original LA edition of Morons differs slightly from it’s later POW counterpart – the main difference being the frame of the auctioned image depicted is gold.
In 2007, Morons saw a release at POW in three different flavours, unsigned in white, signed in white and signed in the sepia colourway.