• BANKSY    Editions

  • Queen Vic, 2003
    Screen-print on wove paper
    70cm x 50cm 
    Edition of 500 (50 Signed)

    Queen Vic, 2003

    Despite many of Banksy's works being percieved as controversial, Queen Vic, 2003 is often seen as even more so. This work presents Queen Victoria performing a sex act with another woman, firmly in opposition to her public view of queer women. She famously believed 'women couldn't be gay' and pushed through anti-gay laws during her reign, therefore this work is a tongue-in-cheek depiction of her that she would've hated. 
     
    The time period of this work's production was at a time in the UK when LGBTQ+ rights were frequently discussed in the media since gay marriage was still not legally recnogised and a law preventing the discrimnation against queer indiviudals in the work place was passed the same year this work was made. Continuing Banksy's precedent of criticising authority figures and tyranical regimes using humour and juxtaposition, Queen Vic, 2003 comprises these approaches to criticise the monarchy as well as to balance the hypocrasy found in society.
     
     

  • "Sometimes I get credited with moving graffiti in a new direction - the wrong one"

     

    - Banksy

    This piece reflects how figures of authority often enforce oppressive ideologies that would eventually be challenged by the very society they sought to control. While legal progress was being made in the early 2000s, there remained substantial opposition to the normalisation of queer identities. This artwork becomes a symbol of defiance, sparking conversations about the disconnect between the past and the evolving present.