Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge, 2000

Executed in 2000, Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge stands among the earliest known painted appearances of Banksy’s defining monkey motif. Created two years before the celebrated Brighton mural and the subsequent series of original canvases, the work captures the image at its very inception, when Banksy’s visual language was still evolving within the streets and independent cultural venues of his native Bristol. Its provenance from Eat the Beat Records, where it was exhibited during Come on You Reds! in 2000, places it at the very beginning of the motif’s remarkable journey from local intervention to global icon.

Already, the essential elements are fully formed. A solitary chimpanzee hangs its head beneath the now-famous placard declaring, “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” With extraordinary economy, Banksy establishes a visual paradox that would define much of his career. The monkey appears submissive, almost defeated, yet its message quietly overturns the established hierarchy. The image is neither openly revolutionary nor overtly aggressive; instead, it patiently predicts an inevitable reversal of power.

The brilliant crimson background distinguishes this early canvas from many later versions. Rich and uncompromising, it dramatically intensifies the graphic impact of the black-and-white stencil while introducing multiple symbolic associations. The color evokes warning, revolution, authority and sacrifice simultaneously, transforming the monkey into an almost heraldic figure isolated against an abstract field of political tension. Rather than functioning as a simple backdrop, the red becomes an active emotional force within the composition, heightening the sense that history itself is on the verge of change.

The monkey would soon become one of Banksy’s most enduring protagonists. Drawing upon the long tradition of the singerie, in which monkeys imitate human behavior, Banksy reverses the convention entirely. His chimpanzees do not ridicule animals; they expose humanity. Throughout his early oeuvre, monkeys become politicians, revolutionaries, workers and observers, quietly revealing the absurdity of social hierarchies that humans themselves have constructed. Here, the monkey functions less as a caricature than as an uncomfortable mirror, inviting viewers to question who is truly civilized.

Seen today, the slogan possesses an almost prophetic quality. In the years following this painting, the Laugh Now motif evolved into one of the defining images of Banksy’s career, culminating in monumental works such as Devolved Parliament, where the prophecy appears to have been fulfilled. Banksy himself later revisited the phrase with characteristic irony, remarking in 2019: “Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge.” The evolution of the text mirrors the evolution of his own worldview—from optimism about changing systems to skepticism toward the very idea of power itself.

Its exhibition at Eat the Beat Records further anchors the work within the creative community that shaped Banksy’s formative years. Long before museum retrospectives and international auctions, these independent spaces provided a platform for artists working outside conventional institutions. This painting therefore documents not only the birth of an iconic image but also the environment in which Banksy’s artistic identity first emerged.

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Historically, this canvas occupies a singular position within the artist’s oeuvre. It is not simply an early version of Laugh Now; it is one of the works from which the mythology of the image itself began. More than two decades later, its quiet monkey continues to embody one of Banksy’s most enduring insights: power is never permanent, authority is never absolute, and the figures we choose to underestimate may ultimately prove to be the ones who reshape history.