Banksy’s finest work is situated within an esteemed tradition of raising an unforgiving and illuminating mirror up to the world. Mobilizing a longstanding tradition of social satire and visual parody, Banksy has inherited the role of the British pictorial satirists in the contemporary sphere, following in the distinctly unapologetic footsteps of the likes of William Hogarth to penetrate public consciousness and challenge the role of the establishment. It is this distinctive cutting social commentary and political undertone that has underpinned Banksy’s position as one of the most important artists of our time and garnered his cult-like following. They’ve evolved from the kind of cartoonish carnival of Banksy’s animal army to controlled irony, designed to reveal the foolishness hidden in plain view in our society’s values” (Patrick Potter, Banksy: You are an acceptable level of threat and if you were not you would know about it, Durham 2012, n.p.). Considering Banksy’s mature practice, author Patrick Potter has stated, “These images can be really arresting at their best. Indeed, the figure of the chimpanzee has remained central in the decades succeeding its inception. From the earliest Monkey Detonator through to works that directly mock the establishment, notably the ambitious dystopian reimagining of the House of Commons run amok with irate chimps ( Devolved Parliament, 2009), primates are Banksy’s most frequently called-upon symbol, as a means through which to mock and challenge perceived authority and the establishment. It is through this duality of association, that the monkey has taken centre stage in Banksy’s practice as one of the most widely recognizable motifs in the artist’s arsenal through which to represent both the dejected and disillusioned masses and the authoritarian figures of the establishment. Conversely Banksy’s chimpanzees, rather than inhabiting a purely docile existence, may also be seen as deviant and mischievous clever characters. In this light, Keep it Real, can be understood as a critique of the authoritarian manipulation of the working class, despondent and suppressed under the forces of capitalism. From its first iteration, Banksy has mobilized the figure of the monkey with all its Darwinian associations of docility, inferiority and intellectual simplicity, as the perfect visual representation of the subordination of the masses.
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