Not Banksy

NOT BANKSY (active since the 2000s).
"Save de World".
Silkscreen on cardboard. Copy 60/150.
Signed and justified on the back.
Enclosed certificate of authenticity issued by L-13 Light Industrial Workshop.
Measurements: 60 × 42 cm.

Not Banksy uses appropriation and parody to activate a critical reading of the visual language of urban art. The image presents a rat carrying a banner with Japanese characters, on an intense red background that refers to both political posters and propaganda aesthetics.

The work combines humor, social message and authorial ambiguity, which are common features of the project. The slogan below -translatable as "let's live together" or "let's live together"- introduces a note of apparent idealism that contrasts with the irony of the Not Banksy label, questioning once again the border between activism, iconic image and artistic merchandise.

Not Banksy is a graphic and satirical project linked to L-13 Light Industrial Workshop, a London space dedicated to publishing, graphics and counterculture. Initiated in 2007 by STOT21stCplanB, the project is articulated from the appropriation, parody and criticism of the art system.