BANKSY™ MET BALL

This home entertainment lighting system is made from an old Police riot helmet and approximately 650 little mirrors

Catalogue Note

Banksy Met Ball mixes two opposite worlds. The riot helmet symbolizes the world of authority, law enforcement, state control, and violence, whereas the disco ball symbolizes fun and entertainment

Together they form a hybrid object cleverly named after one of the most important events on the celebrity calendar: the Met Ball.

With this work Banksy once again states his disdain for the police, continuing a recurring theme present in his oeuvre since the early 90s. Policemen takes center stage in Rude Copper, which features a policemen giving the viewer the finger; and Stop and Search, in which a policeman rifles through Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz’s wicker basket. but also in Flying Copper and so many versions of it representing heavily geared law enforcement officers with smiley faces.

As well as referencing earlier work, this piece marks a turn towards sculptural objects for the artist, inviting comparisons with the ready-mades of the 20th century in which artists like Marcel Duchamp took everyday objects, modified them, thereby canceling the “useful” function of the object. With the addition of a title to the object, the artist has “given it a new thought” or an entirely new meaning – elevating the everyday into high art.

Banksy has always been against any differentiation between low-end and high-end art. However, with his accessible humor and relevance to people of all backgrounds and cultures shows his ability to transcend the canon of art history and rewrite the rules of the establishment.