The no longer abandoned warehouse was a sight to behold: politically subversive graffiti stencils embellished the walls, graffiti-covered livestock could be seen grazing nonchalantly, and life-size cut-outs of riot police with wings and smiley faces were hanging overhead. The unmissable centerpieces of the exhibition: Churchill with a green mohawk, ‘Brandalism’, and a red-and-white “target practice” car parked neatly on top of an anarchist police van with text that read ‘Turf War’.
Walking into the run-down warehouse in London’s East End on a hot summer day in July must have contributed to the other-worldly experience that was ‘Turf War’, Banksy’s very first major London exhibition. The location was made known through a private invitation to few on opening day, the 17th of July in 2003. The following day, a simple wooden palette outside the warehouse on Kingsland Road revealed the exhibition’s exact location to the curious general public. Once inside, visitors would have to pinch themselves to believe their eyes.
Banksy’s ‘Turf War’ became his first of many major exhibitions across the United Kingdom, after which he would go on to expand his presence in the international art scene. The trademarks of Banksy’s style that would go on to make up the majority of his career were already in evidence at ‘Turf War’. His talent for controversy was demonstrated by using live pigs, cows, and sheep as part of his exhibition, eventually resulting in its premature closing.
Police cut-outs with smiley faces hanging from the ceiling at Banksy’s ‘Turf War’ Exhibition [Flickr: Alan Denney]
Even though the paint used on the animals was non-toxic, police were called to the premises after animal rights protesters had gathered around the property, concerned over the possibly harmful conditions that the animals were in. A BBC report revealed that the RSPCA had done a thorough check of the warehouse conditions and approved the circumstances in which the animals were living well in advance of the opening of the exhibition. Nonetheless, the animals were taken back to their Somerset farmer and the exhibition closed down early that weekend, after being open for just two-and-a-half days.
“Shock of the moo,” a review by The Guardian, argued that the animals didn’t seem to mind spending their time in the warehouse and were even lavishly petted by famous Brits. Apparently, The Andy Warhol cow got major attention from a flirty participant of a past Big Brother season: “If you listened closely, you could almost hear the sound of Banksy laughing.”
Big Brother candidates weren’t the only celebrities in attendance of the exhibition, chef Jamie Oliver, broadcaster Sarah Cox, and musician Jarvis Cocker all turned up for opening day, though Banksy was nowhere to be seen for his royal debut.
The rare invitation for the opening night of ‘Turf War’ on Thursday the 17th of July included a black-and-white stencil of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with a bright green mohawk, also the focal point of the exhibition. Banksy replicated the world-famous historical portrait from 1941 by Yusuf Karsh, but instead of the usual admiration pertaining to the prominent politician celebrated for his victories, Banksy references the primary goal of war in his personal adaptation: a quarrel between greedy politicians over turf.
Churchill rocking a green mohawk in Banksy’s famous ‘Turf War’ portrait [Flickr: Pierre Doyen]
“Punkified” Churchill was a direct commentary on Britain’s politics and one of the most notable wartime officers. Banksy reiterates his favourite act of vandalism through the symbolism behind the small strip of land that is eventually won over the backs of countless civilian lives: long live global capitalism.
At the warehouse, below the iconic Churchill portrait, the word ‘brandalism’ was displayed, which was about to become a worldwide movement. Though Banksy is known for his critique of Britain’s political climate and law enforcement, there is something he similarly opposes: the corporate world. ‘Brandalism’ was aimed against corporate businesses’ power over culture and space. Eventually, it developed into an international collective of artists that uses ‘subvertising’ to challenge corporate domination.
‘Brandalism’ was set to become a global movement following Banksy’s ‘Turf War’ Exhibition [Flickr: Michael Pickard]
Upon entrance, you would have additionally been greeted by a warning in black graffiti: “If you are reading this notice you have already been recorded by Close Circuit Television.” The immediate critique of London’s use of CCTV comes naturally to Banksy, who strongly opposes Britain’s widespread security monitoring and law enforcement. To be fair, it is not a strange sentiment to have for a street-artist highly invested in his anonymity in one of the most surveilled countries in the entire world, with over 5.9 million security cameras and counting.
But Banksy’s anonymity not only allowed him to practise his profession freely without legal persecution by authorities, it also gave rise to an attractive secrecy that continuously seems to cling to the unparalleled artist. In a society where people often strive for recognition and idolism, the mystery surrounding Banksy has undoubtedly been a huge part of his success. To this day, it is unknown who is actually behind the world-renowned artworks. The elusive Banksy has even been argued to not just be one, but a collective of artists. Who really knows?
Haig Gordon should. In 2019, an ITV News interview was recovered with the original Banksy taken just before the unveiling of the ‘Turf War’ exhibit. Banksy was already jealousy preserving his anonymity at the time, and is being interviewed while flaunting a baseball cap and t-shirt over his face, yet his eyes are clearly visible.
During the interview with Banksy, ITV’s Haig Gordon teasingly asked questions such as “you don’t mind if I pass your details on to the police?” Paradoxically, in the 2019 re-examination Gordon dumbfoundedly tells ITV News he does not recall anything from that day. Given the current massive respect and curiosity that clings to the Banksy name, it would not likely be a question asked, and even less likely a face to be forgotten.
Looking back, Gordon feels that the interview at ‘Turf War’ was integral to Banksy’s further success: “I gave his career a major boost, not the interview, but teaching him never to do another one. Because of course, part of his success is based on the allure of anonymity, he should never have done the interview with me, my doing the interview with him taught him: never again.” And so it did, never again was Banksy interviewed face to face. Whether Hague Gordon is responsible, I guess that’s up for debate.
In 2007, The New Yorker described the ‘Turf War’ as “a Barnumesque spectacle, staged at a secret location,” and took particular notice of the portrait of Elizabeth II depicted as a chimpanzee. The black and white monkey stencil leaves only the queen’s hair, crown and jewellery as remainders of her identity. The blatant depiction with union jack colours proudly piercing from the background, offers its audience a clear-cut title: “Monkey Queen.”
One of the many stencil prints of Banksy’s ‘Monkey Queen’ [Flickr: Pierre Doyen]
The satirical ‘Monkey Queen’ started as a wall piece at a youth club in the market town of Newent. Widespread twitter feuds and press coverage under the cover of “Banksygate” ensued. The club of youngsters were forced to take down the image and their funding was cut. Questions were raised: where does freedom of expression cross the line?
Pictures on Walls, a collective of graffiti artists to which Banksy belonged, shed some light on the concept behind the cartoonist depiction. Which revealed that it was mostly in reaction to how the Jubilee is grounded in a single trait: “Celebrate the fact that the highest position in British society is not a reward for talent or hard work but is simply handed out with the accident of birth. God Save The Queen”’.
Replacing people with monkeys in daily life settings is nothing new, it constitutes a tradition in classical painting that can be traced as far back as ancient Egypt. “Singerie” derived from the French word for “monkey trick” was most widely used among French artists at the start of the 18th century. Singerie provides mild satire that conceptualises how humans put themselves on the top of the food chain in the animal kingdom. The website My Art Broker argues that ‘Monkey Queen’ “epitomises Banksy’s artistic identity”, through not only his classic black-and-white stencil technique, but primarily in using his art as creative protest and ridicule.
Is the royal ape depiction mere satirical comedy, or is it offensive? The ever persisting question with street-art remains: where does “respect” begin and end? When does something stop being vandalism and become artistic practice? How far can artistic expression go in terms of shocking people? When does shock acquire value, and who assigns that value?
In 2003 Banksy stated: “I don’t like the gallery system and the value of art these days seems to come down to whether one millionaire likes it or not.” Contrastingly, Banksy also argued that it was “the first time the essentially bourgeois world of art has belonged to the people”, and that street artists needed to take advantage of that.
Later that year, in October 2003, Banksy would pull off a meticulously organised prank in Tate Britain, had the glue been strong enough. An oil painting of a picturesque scene in the English countryside featuring a blue-and-white police tape titled ‘Crimewatch UK Has Ruined the Countryside For All of Us’ was quickly secured in an elaborate magic trick next to other classical paintings when no-one was looking. The description read: “This new acquisition is a beautiful example of the neo post-idiotic style. Little is known about Banksy whose work is inspired by cannabis resin and daytime television.”
During ‘Turf War’, Banksy already familiarised the public with his embellished highbrow oil paintings that were accompanied by graffiti add-ons. One of the more familiar pieces is the disturbing ‘Bird and Grenade,’ where a stencilled bird with a grenade hanging from its beak is pasted over an idyllic British landscape.
‘Bird and Grenade’ is just one of many classical paintings that Banksy decorated with graffiti [Flickr: Gandalf’s Gallery]
An analysis on ‘Banksy’s Multimodal Representations’ argued that Turf War and the succeeding Tate Museum trick were huge influences in Banksy’s explosive career growth and place in popular culture. The analysis concluded that his achievements in 2003 “helped him achieve his artistic validation and worldwide recognition.” The dissertation additionally established a believe that 2003 was a defining year in Banksy’s career “because he managed to establish his ethos of a prolific, strong-minded, virtuosic and enigmatic artist, which, the following years would lend him the aura of a legendary persona, as he is viewed today.”
As Banksy’s art became increasingly valuable after ‘Turf War’ and his subsequent successful solo exhibitions, it became more often commodified in the art market, a term now coined as “The Banksy Effect.” Undoubtedly, ‘Turf War’ has left a huge mark on the art world and British imagination.
Today, the art industry has embraced other forms of street art and graffiti culture. Graffiti has contributed to the gentrification of neighbourhoods and floods of tourism in UK cities such as London and Bristol. In addition, Banksy is selling his art for millions: his recently shredded artwork “Girl With Balloon” which was originally painted on a wall in East London, sold for a record £16 million pounds at an auction.
A man studies the renowned ‘Turf War’ portrait during The Art of Banksy Exhibition [The Art of Banksy]
The show is made up out of private collections and clearly states next to its title that it was not authorised by Banksy himself. The curator of the exhibit however, Steve Lazarides, worked with Banksy’s during the late 90’s, collaborating for almost 10 years, until they parted ways for unknown reasons.
The ‘Art of Banksy’ exhibit gives rise to some clear distinctions. As an anti-capitalist, it is not hard to imagine how Banksy would feel about people having to pay almost 30 pounds to see his works in a gallery setting, where visitors end up in a gift shop branded with pricey Banksy collectibles. Even then, it remains an impressive sight to see so many of Banksy’s famous and lesser known works combined in an indoor space. It will have to make do until we get a true Banksy ‘Turf War’ revival.
Featured image courtesy of Alan Denney
All images courtesy of Alan Denney, Mike Pickard, Pierre Doyen, Jeremy Reddington, Gandalf’s Gallery, and The Art of Banksy