Banksy has entered a political piece in this year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.
His entry features a “Vote to Leave” sign with the “ea” obstructed by a heart-shaped balloon. The heart-shaped balloon is covered in bandages.
The resulting message is “Vote to Love.”
The anti-Brexit piece is not unusual for the street artist. Banksy often comments on politics through his artwork. For example, he created works that criticized the response to the 2015 European immigration crisis. He also creates pieces commenting on climate change skeptics and the treatment of refugees.
On Instagram, Banksy says the Academy refused a previous version of the “Vote to Love” piece – submitted under his pseudonym Bryan S. Gaakman.
Banksy says a month after having his work turned down for the summer exhibition, the Royal Academy contacted him.
Banksy says he was asked to “submit something,” so he sent in the same piece, under his name.
The Summer Exhibition is celebrating its 250th year as the world’s largest open submission art exhibition.
20,000 works of art were submitted, one of which was Banksy’s – under the pseudonym of course.
Bansky’s “Vote to Love” piece is one of many ant-Brexit statements the artist has made. In 2017, he painted a three-story mural, which became known as a “melancholy symbol” of Brexit. The mural depicts a worker chipping away at a yellow star on a blue European Union flag. It was installed in Dover, a port city on the English Channel that faces Europe.
The exhibition is the world’s largest open submission contemporary art show. The Academy holds the event every year. The show brings together art in all mediums, including prints, paintings, film, photography, sculpture and more.
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