Countryside CCTV, 2006
Oil on found canvas
80×110 cm
Unique
Countryside CCTV shows a post of CCTV surveillance cameras within a bucolic landscape copied from historic oil painting. The contrast between the element of modern technology and the classical aura of the background creates an exciting tension that is at the heart of Banksy’s tongue-in-cheek style. The work belongs to Banksy’s widely celebrated series, the Crude Oils. In these hijacked traditional oil paintings, the artist inserts his iconic stencil figures into Old Masters paintings. In doing so, he tackles relevant issues and formulates sharp social commentary through subversive humor.
They’re both a reference to ideas of the ‘readymade’ and artists like Marcel Duchamp, as well as to ideas of Pop Art around mass production and appropriation. He has successfully placed these artworks into exhibitions of respected museums and art galleries around the world, including The Louvre, The Tate, The British Museum and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
