Laugh Now (canvas)
Laugh Now (canvas)
Signed Spray Paint
Banksy
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43 x 43cm, Edition of 5, Spray Paint
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Meaning & Analysis
Laugh Now is a Banksy work from 2003, executed in spray-paint on canvas and released in a rare edition of 5. 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.
The chimpanzee takes on anthropomorphic qualities and appears to be standing like a human with slouched shoulders. The animal is staring at the ground and seems to be avoiding the gaze of the viewer.
Banksy renders the chimpanzee using black and white spray paint against a plain white backdrop. The chimpanzee dominates the centre of the composition and the viewer’s attention is focussed on the words that are typed out on the sandwich board that the animal is wearing.
The chimpanzee image has been reproduced in various iterations and is arguably one of Banksy’s most recognisable images along with Girl With Balloon. The versions differ from one another as Banksy adds a different text to the sandwich board. Laugh Now is a notable example of how Banksy uses his artworks to offer foreboding warnings about the future. He also uses art to launch social critiques and spread anti-establishment sentiment.