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Sweep It Under The Carpet, 2006

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Sweep It Under The Carpet

Sweep It Under The Carpet

Year: 2006
Location: Chalk Farm Road, London, England
 
 
Sweep it Under the Carpet appeared on a wall on Chalk Farm Road, North London in 2006. It portrays a woman dressed as a maid who is sweeping dirt under the cover of a brick wall. The work is said to represent the reluctance of the Western world to deal with global issues such as poverty, or other issues dear to Banksy.
Those red bricks have been painted on the white wall of the White Cube gallery.
The gallery let the painting stay for a while but eventually removed it.
 
The same artistic concept was also illustrated at Barely Legal, Banksy‘s exhibition in Los Angeles, where he showed a painted Elephant to illustrate what is considered as an “Elephant in the Room”.
 
An Elephant in the Room, Barely Legal, Los Angeles, 2006
 
“There’s an elephant in the room. There’s a problem we never talk about.”
The statement went on to say there were billions of people living below the poverty line. With this piece Banksy upholds his unique delivery of messages through his artwork. He once again tackled a critical, and often ignored, issue that plagues the world today – forcing his diverse population of fans to question and/or challenge the status quo.
 
The Independent newspaper initially claimed that another version of this mural had been “commissioned” by them to appear at the junction of Regents Park Road and Chalk Farm Road. This had been retracted shortly after by the Independent and absolutely refuted on Banksy’s website: “Banksy does not do graffiti commissions for national newspapers and is unlikely to start at any point in the near future”.
 
Banksy explained the meaning behind this visual:
“In the bad old days, it was only popes and princes who had the money to pay for their portraits to be painted, this is a portrait of a maid called Leanne who cleaned my room in a Los Angeles motel. She was quite a feisty lady.”
The same visual was used by Banksy over a Damien Hirst spot painting in 2007. Keep It Spotless sold at auction at Sotheby’s New-York on 14 February 2008 for a record USD 1.9 million.
Keep It Spotless (Defaced Hirst), 2007
Household gloss and spray-paint on canvas
214×305 cm (84 1/4 x 120 1/8 inches)

Gallery