'Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.' —BanksyBest known for drawing on and appropriating recognisable visual imagery, Banksy subverts historic and political moments, turning them into his own symbols of satire. For Golf Sale, Banksy drew from Jeff Widener’s Pulitzer nominated epochal photograph of the ‘Tank Man’. On 5th June 1989, Widener captured the bold unidentified Chinese man, who confronted a row of tanks on their route out of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, following the protests and massacre of the day before when students challenged the government over issues of democracy.
Using spray-paint and stencils, Banksy simplifies the tanks into their most basic form, highlighting the outlines of their pointed guns and overbearing wheels in black and white. Placing a placard in the hands of the man, with the words ‘Golf Sale’ inscribed, and an arrow pointing the tanks in another direction, Banksy mocks the intent of the tanks and those that instruct them. The artist suggests that physical violence used to enforce ideas is as effective as firing golf balls into enemy territory.
