Mosquito
Mosquito
Mixed Media
Banksy
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25 x 30cm, Edition of 25, Mixed Media
Medium: Mixed Media
Edition size: 25
Year: 2003
Size: H 25cm x W 30cm
Signed: No
Format: Mixed Media
Last Auction: October 2018
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Meaning & Analysis
Mosquito is an acrylic and spray paint stencil on canvas made by Banksy in 2003. The canvas, in an edition of 25, depicts a gas mask-clad mosquito rendered in Banksy’s signature stencil-graffiti style. The work parodies the Paramount Pictures logo, ironizing Hollywood’s parasitic relationship to real-life violence and conflict.
The meaning of this image is open to interpretation, as are many of Banksy’s artworks. The work is imbued with irony as the gas mask is meant to be protecting the insect, but also prevents it from drinking blood and sustaining itself. The gas mask also prevents the mosquito from stinging anyone, rendering it impotent and disabling it from hurting anybody, despite the insect being rendered as ready to fight.
Banksy’s works are often ironic or satirical and the artist uses animals such as monkeys and rats to address social issues. Animals that are conventionally thought of as pests and associated with being unwanted, such as rats, are frequently used by Banksy as symbols of the working class. In this image, the mosquito can be seen as representing the plight of soldiers who are caught in war and have to struggle between duty and morality.