One year earlier, in 2004, he produced a large quantity of counterfeit banknotes of 10 pounds.
However, he replaced the Queen of England with Lady Diana and he changed the “Bank of England” for a significant “Banksy of England”. He allowed thus these banknotes circulate in the Notting Hill Carnival. He denounced with this act the confusing causes of the accident of the Princess and left some doubt on people’s imagination.
Although most of his artworks are claimants, some of them contain messages of hope, tinged with humor or derision. Therefore, he shows police officers hugging passionately, children who play and have fun in different contexts or poetic images such as flowers and crazy situations. Banksy also likes painting about his political views, what hurts him, what impresses him.
An excellent example is his little Vietnamese intoxicated and burned with napalm, accompanied by two eccentric characters. He softened the gravity of the original photo with a little touch of happiness, despite the fact that his first desire was clearly to reflect the atrocities resulting from wars. His rats are also a good example of this. They chant mostly significant messages and show unequivocal alertness. The artist left some doubt regarding his perception of rats, provoking again reflection and questioning. Banksy made a mark as an artist and reached a wide audience.
He refuses to be related to big companies of that world, simply for the sake of his peers, and his relationship with money or profits seems to be the least of his concerns. That we love him or not does not seem to change his life and that is what makes him the great artist he is.
