Not Banksy

NOT BANKSY (active since the 2000s).
"The Love Fake Art Suckers," 2019.
Silkscreen and spray paint on plywood. Exemplar no. 3.
Signed, dated and numbered on the back.
Measurements: 55 × 45 cm.

Not Banksy activates here his usual game of appropriation, parody and criticism of the art system. The central figure, with an aesthetic close to urban stencils, holds a heart-shaped balloon while carrying the message "There's a sucker born every minute", a phrase that introduces a scathing reading on consumption, credulity and fetishism of the art market.

The work combines the sentimental iconography of the heart-balloon with a cynical warning about the illusion of value and authenticity. The use of aerosol and silkscreen on wood reinforces its link to the language of street art, while the stamp "The Real Not Banksy Front" insists on the deliberate ambiguity between original and conceptual counterfeit.

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.