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70 x 50cm, Edition of 600, Screenprint
TradingFloor
Laugh Now is a Banksy screen print from 2003, released in an unsigned edition of 600. Featuring a monkey wearing a sandwich board that reads "Laugh Now But One Day We'll Be In Charge". The original artwork first appeared in a Brighton nightclub.
‘Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge’, reads the sandwich board worn by the slightly ominous monkey replicated against a striking red background in this 1998 Banksy original, which first appeared in a Brighton nightclub in 2002 before going onto being released as a print the following year.
Much like with Banksy’s visual vocabulary in general, there can be various interpretations for the monkey figure in this work. It can be viewed as a representation of the oppressed, who walk the streets until they’re exhausted in order to spread their message. Such sandwich boards are usually associated with “prophets of doom”, preaching the looming apocalypse on the streets. Or perhaps it is simply a monkey, by which Banksy is commenting on how man has enslaved animals for centuries, including our distant primate relatives, much like he does in the work Barcode with a leopard. It could also be a symbol for the common man of the working class, who is exploited, exhausted and enslaved by capitalism, themes that Banksy regularly revisits through a range of various characters such as a rat in other famous prints like Love Rat and Gangsta Rat.
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.