The elusive figure of Banksy, whose recognisable works have captured the attention of a worldwide audience, shrouds his works in a veil of anonymity that drives his international popularity. This carefully concealed selfhood allows Banksy, incognito, to continue to create his boundary-pushing works, loaded with an underlying social and political commentary. With roots in the Bristol underground movement, his distinctive use of the stencil was adapted out of necessity by the artist during his youth as a means of efficiently finishing works, unnoticed, in public spaces. Executing works both in public spaces and in the studio, Banksy effortlessly negotiates between the worlds of street and fine art.

This fusion of genres is exemplified in Angel, an image of the Holy Virgin created in Banksy’s signature stencil style. This recognisable motif immediately recalls countless art historical images of the Ascension created by Western artists during the 15th to 17th centuries. This strong art historical reference, rendered in spray paint as opposed to oil paints, establishes a dialogue between the dichotomy of street and fine art. Furthermore, Angel is also typically imbued with a poignant social commentary; this particular stencil has appeared before in Banksy’s oeuvre - a work featuring the same image of the Holy Virgin appeared in Naples at the Piazza dei Girolamini, and has locally become known as the ‘Napoli Angel’ or the ‘Madonna con Pistol.’ In this instance, the Virgin is depicted in her assent towards an iconised pistol, with potent, blood-red droplets on her monochromatic chest indicative of a gunshot wound, arguably signalling a problem with the glorification of crime in the area.

In this sense, Banksy’s bleeding angel displays his mission: the anarchic and turbulence of the street is represented in the glaring wound, puncturing the heart of the angel motif, an image which represents sanctified, classical art history. Satirical and engaged, as well as technically accomplished, Angel attests to Banksy’s global reputation as one of the most prolific and intriguing artists of our time.