3 - Banksy (British Street Artist, born 1974)

Banksy (British Street Artist, born 1974) “MOSQUITO WITH GASMASK” (Birmingham, UK, 2001) Stencil and Spray Paint on a Traffic Bollard 91 x 37 x 37 cm. (35.8 by 14.5 by 14.5 inch.) CONDITION Excellent, original condition The artwork is framed and ready for exhibition (Please refer to department for a Condition Report) PROVENANCE – The artwork appeared on Moat Street in Birmingham, in 2001 and has been with the present owners ever since. NOTES – This artwork depicts a mosquito wearing a gas mask in what appears to be a rather kamikaze style dive, which was stencilled onto a traffic bollard. First seen in 2001. This particular stencil used by Banksy for the street, went on to his studio, where it was used for a limited edition of 25 screen prints in 2003 by Banksy’s in house publishers Pictures on Walls. The meaning of the work is open to interpretation, but would appear perhaps to point to the futility of war, with the mosquito’s gas mask preventing it from achieving much offensively. – For a similar traffic bollard with Banksy stencil ‘Gangsta Rat’, see Hessink’s “Cataloque Raisonné of Banksy’s Street Art, (2nd edition, part one, 2024), No. 734. – See also Hessink’s “Cataloque Raisonné of Banksy’s Street Art”, (2nd edition, part one, 2024), No. 711 - 713. PUBLICATIONS – Richard Hessink: “Catalogue Raisonné of Banksy’s Street Art”, (2nd edition, part one, 2024), No. 710.