“You paint 100 chimpanzees and they still call you a guerrilla artist”
– Banksy
Stenciled in spray paint atop an Old Masters reproduction encased in a gilded frame, Monkey Poison, 2004, exemplifies the satirical overtones of Banksy’s renowned street art transferred to the realm of “high art”. Perched atop a tree branch, Banksy’s monkey intrudes upon a countryside vignette, guzzling gasoline from a carton labeled with a flammable sign. The chimpanzee—a recurring motif for the artist since the early 2000s, which has now become one of his most iconic and extensively reproduced images—overlooks this pastoral scene with eyes wide-open, ostensibly unaware of the poison he consumes. Perhaps a satirical commentary on the excess of modern-day gasoline consumption, or a pointed critique on animal cruelty, Monkey Poison brims with the sardonic humor and socio-political undercurrents quintessential of the artist’s oeuvre.
Though Banksy is renowned for his brash albeit poignant critiques of the art world, the theme of satire is not without great art historical precedence. Drawing from a rich lineage of predecessors, dating from William Hogarth’s 18th century masterpieces that comically exposed the corruption and chaos of the British bourgeoise, to Marcel Duchamp’s early 20th century iconoclasm in the form of Fountain, 1917, and L.H.O.O.Q, 1919, Banksy here utilizes zoological symbolism to ridicule contemporary society through a darkly humorous lens. Bridging the disparate realms of graffiti and high art, Monkey Poison is Banksy’s own tongue-in-cheek response to the corrupt modern-day world that we inhabit, inviting both laughter and contemplation from those who encounter it.
“As soon as I cut my first stencil I could feel the power there. I also like the political edge. All graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history,” Banksy has remarked. “They’ve been used to start revolutions and to stop wars”
– Banksy