BANKSY
Bird and Grenade, 2002
Oil and spray enamel on found canvas
68.5 x 99 cm (27×39 inches)
Tagged in white spray ‘banksy’ (lower right)
This work is unique
Provenance
Galerie Surface to Air, Paris.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2003
Exhibition History
London, The Dragon Bar, Santa’s Ghetto, 2002
Auction History
Christie’s London: 13 September 2011
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 145,250 / USD 229,230
Source: Christie’s
Banksy (b. 1975) (christies.com)
In this composition, Banksy hijacks a traditional, kitsch landscape painting, most probably found at a flea market or a thrift shop. The original work shows a peaceful country scene: soft clouds float above a lush, almost romanticized countryside. A white cottage with a thatched roof sits nestled between golden-green trees, evoking safety, tradition, and rural charm, a true peaceful retreat…
Then bang! Enters Banksy’s blue cartoon bird, outlined in bold black, with exaggerated eyes and a goofy expression, perched in the foreground. In its beak: the pin of a hand grenade. The grenade itself dangles from a twig, turning a symbol of spring and renewal into a deadly joke. It’s Looney Tunes meets Full Metal Jacket.
Banksy has superimposed his familiar stencil-and-spray-painted character onto the found canvas. The bird’s childlike, graphic style stands in stark contrast to the painterly, classical background. This collision of aesthetics is key: it makes the image funny, but also deeply unsettling. The visual gag is clear and biting. The bird, an avatar of innocence and natural beauty, is unknowingly about to detonate destruction. It mirrors humanity’s tendency to camouflage danger within everyday life. It’s a metaphor for how violence, or the seeds of it, often lurk beneath seemingly peaceful exteriors.
It also mocks the art world itself. By defacing a cliché pastoral scene, Banksy exposes the banality and escapism often prized in decorative art. He literally arms it with meaning. And we could even add another layer: how absurdly normalized violence has become in culture. Here, it is presented in cartoon form, making us laugh, then quickly recoil. Banksy’s dark humor shines. The bird looks delighted, completely unaware it’s playing with a live grenade.
It is ironic, childish, and brilliant. This is not just a critique of war, it is a satire of ignorance, complicity, and the way we romanticize innocence while being perched on the edge of disaster.
