Nola (orange rain)
Signed Print

Nola, or “Rain Girl”, first appeared as a piece of graffiti in 2008 on a wall in New Orleans, referencing hurricane Katrina that left the city in devastation not long before. Rendered in Banksy’s classic graffiti-spray-stencil style, it shows a young girl in a dress in black and white, beneath a black umbrella, holding her other hand out to feel the rain that is pouring down. The background is a block grey as pink and yellow rain falls from the umbrella. The image evokes a kind of heart-warming innocence that strikes as especially powerful when reflecting on such a catastrophe. Banksy uses the same motif of the little girl in other impactful artworks such as Girl with Balloon.

In an interview, Banksy said that the artwork represents how some of the things that are supposed to protect us, can also harm us. Nola was released in a number of different colours, the original screen print produced with white rain drops.