BANKSY // Stop and Search, 2007

  • Stop and Search reimagines a moment from The Wizard of Oz, casting Dorothy and her dog Toto not as carefree...
    Banksy, Stop and Search, 2007.
    Original work missing. Medium and dimensions unknown.
    © Banksy.
    Stop and Search reimagines a moment from The Wizard of Oz, casting Dorothy and her dog Toto not as carefree travellers on the Yellow Brick Road, but as subjects of state interference. Rendered in Banksy’s signature monochrome stencil style with a splash of blue in the officer’s latex gloves, the scene shows a police officer rifling through Dorothy’s basket as she looks on helplessly.
     
    Banksy uses the iconic symbol of childhood adventure to highlight the absurdity of modern policing. If even Dorothy, an emblem of purity and freedom, can be treated with suspicion, no one is safe from state surveillance. The piece critiques overreach, control, and the erosion of personal liberties, all while maintaining Banksy’s trademark blend of irony and social commentary.

     

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  • “A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.”

    – Banksy

    Banksy’s Stop and Search (2003) shows Dorothy and Toto frisked by police, turning a childhood symbol into a critique of surveillance and state control. Executed in stencil spray paint, it is one of Banksy’s most enduring political images.
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