Insane Clown, 2001
Spray paint stencil on Hessian. 99 1/4 x 76 1/8 in. (252 x 193.5 cm).

PROVENANCE Lazarides Gallery, London
"Graffiti is not the lowest form of art. Despite having to creep about at night and lie to your mum it's actually the most honest artform available…The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit. But if you just value money then your opinion is worthless. The say graffiti frightens people and is symbolic of the decline in society, but graffiti is only dangerous to three types of people; politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers. Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal. A city where everybody could draw wherever they liked, where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city like that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall—it's wet," (Banksy, Banksy Wall and Piece, London, 2007, p. 8 & 85).