BANKSY (British, born 1975)
Out of Time, 2003
Spray paint and stencil on cardboard
50×70 cm (19-5/8 x 27-5/8 inches)
Auction History
Digard Auctions Paris: 11 June 2024
Estimated: EUR 200,000 – 300,000
EUR 323,750 / USD 347,470
f- BANKSY (British, born 1975) – Lot 55
We know neither his face nor who he really is. The artist has forged his own myth and for twenty years has cultivated a mystery where nothing is left to chance, pushing fans and journalists to search for him. Thanks to simple messages, which have the trappings of sincerity and advertising methods, mixed with a good dose of humor. He devotes a cult to irony which sometimes borders on childish mockery.
Music is also linked to the history of Graffiti and Street art. From rapper Blak Twang to DJ Dirty Funker, covers signed Banksy are numerous, even if the artist has not always given his authorization and even if it was sometimes the pretext for a marketing operation.
In 2003 the Band Blur got Banksy to create the cover for the album “Think Tank”, in line with its musical traditions. Since the last century, musicians have played and collaborated with the visual arts, in order to create music videos and album covers that best describe their world.
In 1967, The Velvet Underground released their first album, accompanied by singer Nico. Andy Warhol, who produced the record, is also at the origin of a cover that has become legendary, as much for its creator as for what it contained, then he created the cover of Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones in 1971 for Sticky Fingers. Keith Haring has, among others, collaborated with David Bowie for the illustration of his title “without you” on the album (Let’s Dance), Sylvester (for Someone Like You), Malcolm McLaren (for Duck Rock) and even Bipo ( for Crack is Wack).
The most famous collaboration dates from 2003. That year, the britpop band Blur, whose singer is Damon Albarn, released their seventh album, Think Tank. The cover of the single “Out of Time” shows for the first time the representation of a couple sitting at a table, typical of Banksy’s style. The work is characterized by a minimalist style and a thought-provoking approach aligned with the album. “Out of Time” is one of the songs from the album “Think Tank”. It is a melodic and melancholic song, with lyrics that recall the feeling of disconnection and loss of bearings.
The title of the song can be interpreted as a reflection on change, the passage of time and the feeling of no longer being in tune with the world or with oneself But the messages delivered are perhaps not so simple to comprehend, for the receivers who are not necessarily the recipients.
A modern couple sitting at a table is facing time, the speed of modern times where man must move forward like a wind-up mechanism that does not think. But what happens if this simple mechanism stops ? So many essential questions about our time and our era are suggested by this genius artist who, through a painting, a stencil, a wall, or an intervention revolutionizes the minds of men of the 21st century in many areas of thought.
