BANKSY // Game Changer, 2020

  • Banksy’s 2020 Game Changer NHS nurse replaces superheroes, tribute to frontline workers.
    Banksy, Game Changer, 2020.
    Oil on canvas, 91 × 91 cm. Unique.
    Signed “BANKSY” lower right.
    © Banksy.
    Unveiled during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Game Changer is Banksy’s heartfelt tribute to the NHS and frontline health workers. Donated anonymously to University Hospital Southampton on 6 May 2020, the black-and-white oil painting depicts a young boy kneeling beside a basket of superhero toys. While Batman and Spiderman are cast aside, the child proudly lifts a new figure into the air, a nurse in a cape and mask, arm raised in mid-flight like a comic book heroine. 
     
    The work remained on display at the hospital for ten months, bringing hope and recognition to staff and patients alike. Titled Game Changer, it was later auctioned in 2021 to raise funds for NHS charities, with a reproduction left behind in its original place. Accompanied by a note from the artist reading, “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white,” the work serves as both a memorial to an extraordinary moment in history and a moving gesture of gratitude. 
     
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  • “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.”

     – Banksy, note to NHS staff

    Banksy’s Game Changer was created as a tribute to NHS staff during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The work shows a boy discarding his superhero toys in favour of a nurse, depicted as a cape-wearing figure in flight. With its simple monochrome palette and heartfelt symbolism, the painting captures how frontline workers became society’s true heroes.
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