BANKSY STREET ART // Follow Your Dreams - Cancelled, 2010

  • Banksy Follow Your Dreams Cancelled 2010 Boston Chinatown street art mural of painter beside red cancelled stamp
    Banksy, Follow Your Dreams – Cancelled, 2010.
    Chinatown, Boston, USA.
    © Banksy.
    Follow Your Dreams is one of Banksy’s earliest murals in the United States, created in Boston’s Chinatown in 2010. The piece shows a weary-looking man holding a paintbrush and bucket, standing beside a stencilled slogan that reads “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS” in dark grey. Strikingly, the phrase has been stamped over with the bold red word “CANCELLED,” transforming a motivational call into a bitter statement of defeat.
     
    The work critiques the fragility of the so-called American Dream, particularly for working-class and marginalised communities. The man’s tired posture and grim expression reflect disillusionment and economic hardship, underscoring how aspiration can be crushed by systemic inequality. By situating the mural in a low-income neighbourhood, Banksy reinforced the irony of the message, suggesting that for many, dreams are not pursued but obstructed by poverty, limited opportunity, and social barriers. Follow Your Dreams remains one of Banksy’s most pointed commentaries on hope, capitalism, and the realities of urban life.
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  • “A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to.”

    – Banksy, Wall and Piece

    Painted in Boston’s Chinatown in 2010, Follow Your Dreams (Cancelled) is one of Banksy’s most searing critiques of the American Dream. The mural shows a labourer clutching a brush and bucket, standing beside the words “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS”, a slogan immediately undercut by a red “CANCELLED” stamp.
    Positioning the work in a working-class neighbourhood sharpened its impact, highlighting how economic barriers and systemic inequality prevent many from ever achieving their “dreams.” The resigned figure at the mural’s edge drives the point home: aspiration is painted over, erased by circumstance.
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