BOMB MIDDLE ENGLAND, 2003

Auction History

Catalogue Note

An early and unique aerosol mural featuring a group of elderly ladies playing the genteel English game of bowling, using bombs on a bowling green, cleverly titled “Bomb Middle England.” The mural was executed by Banksy on the wall of the Parisian creative agency and boutique Surface to Air (S2A) at the time of his art exhibition there, Banksy: Graffiti Lies and Deviousness which debuted on January 25, 2003.

The artwork was later partially covered in whitewash and further obscured by an electrical conduit but was still visible in the music video of “We Are Your Friends” by the French group Justice. The video was filmed at S2A and subsequently won the MTV Euro Music Best Video award in 2006.

Banksy’s mural was eventually identified and extricated from the wall for preservation, at which time the whitewash was professionally removed to reveal the original work in its entirety.

Alternate versions of the artwork were featured in Banksy’s books Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall (2001) and Wall and Piece (2005) and the stencil was also produced by Banksy as a limited edition screenprint. In 2013 another example on canvas was auctioned at Phillips for over $350,000.