Heavy Weaponry, 2000
Edition: 10
Spray-paint and emulsion on canvas
61×61 cm (24×24 inches)
Original Metropolitan Police Evidence label with Banksy barcode stamp
Numbered /10 attached to the stretcher
Heavy Weaponry depicts a singular elephant made in Banksy’s recognizable stencil style with a rocket strapped to its back. The image of the elephant bearing a rocket on its back carries various interpretations; presumably the general message is anti-military, in line with Banksy’s other works using similar imagery.
This version of Heavy Weaponry is filled with a variety of symbols and motifs that have recurred throughout the Bristol-born artist’s practice: an oversize barcode, and his signature elephant backpacking a missile. As was the case with the first edition of Heavy Weaponry, the piece is charged with a not so thinly veiled “anti-war” sentiment, openly questioning and criticizing the commoditization of military engagement.
Auction Results
Heavy Weaponry only sold 3 times at public auction.
It last sold at Bonhams London on 8 October 2020, where it broke its auction record selling for GBP 461,062. This rare edition on canvas had not appeared at auction since 2009.
Heavy Weaponry, 2000
Signed in stencil and Numbered 8/10
Original Metropolitan Police Evidence label with Banksy barcode stamp
attached to the stretcher
Bonhams London, 8 October 2020
GBP 471,062 / USD 644,049
