Bomb Middle England
Bomb Middle England
Signed Print
Banksy
35 x 100cm, Edition of 50, Screenprint, 2003
£21,000-£30,000
$40,000-$60,000 Market Value Indicator
$40,000-$60,000 Market Value Indicator
¥190,000-¥270,000 Market Value Indicator
€24,000-€35,000 Market Value Indicator
$220,000-$310,000 Market Value Indicator
¥4,410,000-¥6,300,000 Market Value Indicator
$28,000-$40,000 Market Value Indicator
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Meaning & Analysis
Banksy's Bomb Middle England was first released as a signed screen print by Pictures on Walls in 2003, as a limited edition of 50. It features three middle-aged women playing boules on a green lawn and critiques UK participation in foreign conflicts by comparing it to a leisurely, bourgeois game.
In 2007, Bombing Middle England, the original piece of acrylic and spray paint on canvas, fetched £102,000 at Sotheby's. Finding a signed edition of this artwork is extraordinarily difficult and the demand for these is very high. Bomb Middle England depicts three middle-aged ladies playing a game of boules, the lawn is bright green and is the only colour featured in this screen print. With the ladies on the far left and their boules, which are in fact lit fuse bombs, on the far right. The subversive message of Bomb Middle England, as with all Banksy pieces, is up for debate; perhaps it is a critique of the predictable structure that seems to define English middle-class culture. It could also be read as a critical comment on the UK elite, or wealthier members of society, who are shielded from the harsh realities of war, destruction or poverty. Banksy is outspoken against the military-industrialist complex and war as profit in his artworks, such as in other powerful screen prints like Bomb Hugger, Happy Choppers and Have a Nice Day.
