Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Medium: Acrylic and spray-paint stencil on canvas
Year: 2001
Dimensions: 76.5 x 76.5 cm (30×30 inches)
Edition: 10
Stencil signed
“Imagine a city where graffiti wasn’t illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall – it’s wet.”
Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset, and in the four districts that were in the (now defunct) county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and Northeast Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The relationship between Banksy and law enforcement is nuanced, to say the least – and is a theme he revisits often in his work. When the artist started his graffiti career in Bristol, the local police force had a particularly draconian policy against graffiti, and those caught graffitiing were jailed for their offense.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Medium: Acrylic and spray-paint stencil on canvas
Year: 2001
Dimensions: 61×61 cm (24×24 inches)
Edition: 10
Stencil signed
This work is in a way Banksy‘s revenge, as he presents two police officers, on a pink background, using binoculars, looking up, down, everywhere – seemingly having no clue what they are looking for. Banksy appears to be questioning our priorities as a society that we feel spray painting art on the side of buildings is a big threat and danger to our society, while much greater crimes and injustices are carried out in plain sight. It is the duty of police to “protect and serve,” yet we, as a society, tolerate and accept much more significant issues without batting an eye.
Auction Results
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 2001
SBI Art Auction: 31 October 2021
Estimated: JPY 30,000,000 – 50,000,000
JPY 92,000,000 / USD 878,727
BANKSY
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 2001
Spray paint, stencil, acrylic on canvas
76.5 x 76.5 cm (30 1/8 x 30 1/8 inches)
Tagged “BANKSY” on the lower left
This work is from an edition of 10
Provenance
Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, London
Sotheby’s Hong Kong: Monday, April 1, 2019 [Lot 00510] Contemporary Art
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 2001
Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 1 April 2019
Estimated: HKD 700,000 – 1,400,000
HKD 3,000,000 / USD 382,185
(#510) BANKSY | Avon and Somerset Constabulary (sothebys.com)
BANKSY
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 2001
Acrylic and spray paint stencil on canvas
76.3 x 76.5 cm (30×30 inches)
Stenciled with the artist’s name
This work is from an edition of 10
Provenance
Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Avon and Somerset Constabulary (Pink), 2000
Sotheby’s London: 29 June 2017
Estimated: GBP 60,000 – 80,000
GBP 81,250 / USD 105,385
BANKSY
Avon and Somerset Constabulary (Pink), 2000
Spray-paint on canvas
76×76 cm (30×30 inches)
Stenciled with the artist’s name
Numbered 4/10 and dated 2000 on the stretcher
Provenance
Acquired from the artist by the present owner
‘Avon and Somerset Constabulary’, 2000
Bonhams London: 24 October 2007
Estimated: GBP 60,000 – 80,000
GBP 80,000 / USD 163,840
Bonhams : Banksy (British, born 1975) ‘Avon and Somerset Constabulary’, 2000
Stenciled spray paint and oil on canvas
60.5 x 60.5 cm (23 13/16 x 23 13/16 inches)
‘Banksy’ stencil signature incorporated into the design
This work is believed to be from an edition of two, each in a different colorway
Provenance
Severnshed, Bristol, 2000
Please note that this lot was purchased in Alterior, a clothing shop in Bristol in 1999 and not as detailed in the catalogue footnote