BANKSY // SWAT Van, 2006

  • Banksy’s 2006 SWAT Van turned art canvas, street vehicle becomes satirical political statement.
    Banksy, SWAT Van, 2006.
    Household gloss and spray paint on van, 295 × 700 × 250 cm. Unique.
    © Banksy.
    SWAT Van is one of Banksy’s most ambitious sculptural works, a full-sized riot control vehicle transformed into a rolling satire of authority. Painted in Banksy’s signature stencilled style, the van features faceless, SWAT officers seemingly outwitted by a small child. Bright colours and comic motifs clash against the intimidating form of the armoured vehicle, exposing the absurdity of state-sanctioned force when set against innocence and imagination.
     
    Originally unveiled during Barely Legal in Los Angeles in 2006, SWAT Van exemplifies Banksy’s signature style: visual wit, anti-establishment rage and razor-sharp social commentary. It riffs on the legacy of the readymade, subverting not just a surface, but the entire function of the object. With SWAT Van, Banksy doesn’t just critique the system, he drives straight through it.
     
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  • "Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.”

    - Banksy 

    Created in 2006, SWAT Van is a sculptural work in which Banksy transformed a full-sized police riot van. The vehicle is covered in stencilled imagery of SWAT officers and comic motifs, undermining its intimidating form with humour and satire. First shown at Barely Legal in Los Angeles, the piece exemplifies Banksy’s interest in reappropriating objects of authority into platforms for social critique.
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