Why is Keep It Real so important?

Keep It Real belongs to one of Banksy’s most famous and popular themes: animals as a metaphor and comment on human greed and stupidity. Here, the chimpanzee carries a message to be ‘real’ – authentic and genuine – perhaps alluding to the honesty of animals and the dishonesty of people, particularly those in authority. Keep It Real can be read as a more hopeful artwork than Laugh Now, which explores animal cruelty and threats of uprising.

How do I buy a Keep It Real artwork?

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How can I sell my Keep It Real artwork?

If you're looking to sell art by Banksy, click the link and we can help. We employ a number of techniques and practices in order to give a realistic and achievable valuation on any art listed on myartbroker.com. We analyse the demand for the work in question, take into consideration previous sales and auction valuations, we assess the current gallery valuation and monitor the current deals taking place via MyArtBroker every day. We regularly advise sellers on a price bracket for their artwork completely free of charge.

Keep It Real by Banksy Background & Meaning

Keep
It Real

Picturing a downcast chimpanzee wearing a sandwich board, these Banksy prints bear the uplifting title and slogan, "Keep It Real." Despite his expression, Banksy's monkey is a defiant representative of society’s 'underdogs', who offers us the hopeful message that the reality of society—of the oppressed masses— will come to light.

Meaning & Analysis

Banksy’s Keep It Real is an acrylic and spray-painted work on canvas, featuring a walking chimpanzee on a white background, carrying a sandwich board with the message ‘keep it real’. Banksy created it in 2003 as an edition of 15.

The artist made Keep It Real in the same year he made his other, now iconic, monkey artwork Laugh Now, featuring the same chimpanzee motif but carrying the message “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge”. Banksy has also made a third version of the board-carrying chimp, featuring the message “Lying to the police is never wrong”, but this was never released as editions. Together, Banksy’s chimpanzees are among his best-known animals, representing the disillusioned and downtrodden masses speaking out against their oppressors.

Unique artworks of Keep It Real include the chimp on a red background, and the chimp stencilled on a sheet of steel. The latter was exhibited in Barely Legal, Banksy’s infamous exhibition in Los Angeles in 2006.

Keep It Real belongs to one of Banksy’s most famous and popular themes: animals as a metaphor and comment on human greed and stupidity. Here, the chimpanzee carries a message to be ‘real’ – authentic and genuine – perhaps alluding to the honesty of animals and the dishonesty of people, particularly those in authority. Keep It Real can be read as a more hopeful artwork than Laugh Now, which explores animal cruelty and threats of uprising.
A few years later, Banksy went on to use chimpanzees again in Devolved Parliament, which depicted the politicians in the House of Commons as chimps. The satirical painting went on to sell £9.9 million at auction in 2019, becoming the most expensive Banksy artwork at the time.
If you're looking to sell art by Banksy, click the link and we can help. We employ a number of techniques and practices in order to give a realistic and achievable valuation on any art listed on myartbroker.com. We analyse the demand for the work in question, take into consideration previous sales and auction valuations, we assess the current gallery valuation and monitor the current deals taking place via MyArtBroker every day. We regularly advise sellers on a price bracket for their artwork completely free of charge.