Bomb Love
Bomb Love
Unsigned Print
Banksy
£9,000-£14,000Value Indicator
$19,000-$29,000 Value Indicator
$17,000-$26,000 Value Indicator
¥90,000-¥140,000 Value Indicator
€10,500-€16,000 Value Indicator
$100,000-$150,000 Value Indicator
¥1,790,000-¥2,780,000 Value Indicator
$12,000-$19,000 Value Indicator
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70 x 50cm, Edition of 600, Screenprint
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Meaning & Analysis
Among Banksy’s earliest screen prints is Bomb Love, a 2003 screen-print, released as an unsigned edition of 600. Bomb Love boldly depicts a ponytailed young girl hugging a bomb as though it were a cuddly toy, speaking to Banksy’s most recurrent motif: the struggle between innocence and violence.
Bomb Love boldly depicts a ponytailed young girl hugging a bomb as though it were a cuddly toy. It’s among Banksy’s most sought-after prints on the market for both signed and unsigned versions. The iconography and message of this print strike as particularly shocking. The bomb, akin to that which one would see dropped from a bomber on 24 hour news coverage, evokes an imposing and sinister effect. The background's colour is a bright, fluorescent pink, which adds to the childlike innocence of the image and serves to accentuate the figure in the foreground.
This artwork is commenting on modern society’s affection for warfare, with bombs that are manufactured by some of our largest employers in the UK and sold by the millions like toys. Banksy is posing a decisive challenge to the press and politicians through this artwork, who portray warfare as an essential part of "democracy", attempting to justify its worthiness as a course of action to promote (or export) freedom, and peace. A more positive interpretation is that that Banksy is suggesting that the forces of love and peace can tame the forces of evil. The artist could be formulating the hope that perhaps through the love of innocent children we may one day achieve peace, akin to the themes we see in Girl With Balloon.
Renowned British street artist, Banksy, is the enigmatic figure behind some of the most subversive works in the Urban Art scene. Despite his anonymity, the artists' disruptive stunts have not only gained him notoriety, but they have vocalised his stance on many social and political issues. As seen with the likes of Girl With Balloon and Napalm, Banksy uses his distinctive stencil technique to produce thought-provoking commentaries on challenging themes. The showcase of rebellion that lines his work has caused his secondary market value to soar in recent years, propelling him to the top of the Urban Art scene.
