ANGEL FLACK JACKET, 2009

Exhibited

• Bristol, Bristol City Museum, Banksy vs Bristol Museum, June – August 2009

Provenance

• Private Collection

Auction History

Catalogue Note

Banksy’s Angel Flack Jacket (2009) is based on an earlier graffiti by the artist depicting a winged angel figure in a bulletproof vest, which was executed on a wall in Shoreditch in London. The original graffiti was made as a tribute to another English artist, Ozone, who died in 2007 after being hit by an underground train in East London while running away from the police.

BANKSY, OLD STREET, LONDON, 2007 IMAGE: © JENNY MATTHEWS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

The original graffiti shows the angel holding a skull, symbolizing the tragic and sudden death of Ozone. The present composition is an altered version of the same cherub-like figure which however no longer has wings. Angel Flack Jacket exemplifies Banksy’s role as a social commentator and satirist and his signature use of familiar symbols juxtaposed with incompatible references to create absurd and provocative images which convey potent political messages. In this case, he depicts an innocent and delicate figure wearing a bullet proof jacket, itself embodying violence and war. In Banksy’s works, satire does not need to single-handedly dismantle an ideology for its employment to be deemed a success. Rather, the identification of previously hidden or disguised oppressive concepts by audiences is a success in the expansion of social consciousness. Indeed, drawing into the realm of visibility those on the margins of society that are considered helpless and invisible, largely without legal, juridical and visual representation, Banksy successfully infiltrates the social consciousness and continues to be heralded as one of the most celebrated artists of our generation.