Monkey Queen
Monkey Queen
Unsigned Print
Banksy
£7,000-£11,000
$13,000-$21,000 Value Indicator
$13,000-$20,000 Value Indicator
¥60,000-¥100,000 Value Indicator
€8,000-€12,500 Value Indicator
$70,000-$120,000 Value Indicator
¥1,500,000-¥2,360,000 Value Indicator
$9,500-$15,000 Value Indicator
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50 x 35cm, Edition of 600, Screenprint
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Meaning & Analysis
Monkey Queen is one of Banksy’s earliest screen prints, released as an unsigned edition of 600 in 2003. Featuring a monkey wearing the late Queen Elizabeth II's jewels and coiffed hair against a mod-style target, the image was controversial enough to spark ‘Banksygate’ but is only exemplary of Banksy’s defiant anti-authoritarian attitude.
Monkey Queen is a quintessential example of Banksy’s daring, unapologetic humour. The colourful work depicts a monkey wearing all the ornamentation of a Queen -- crown, diamond necklace and earrings – in front of a background of red, white, blue, except not that of the Union Jack, more the ‘target’ symbol synonymous with Mods. The three colour artwork of the photo-realistic monkey in Banksy’s spray-stencil-style is reminiscent of his earlier work Laugh Now, in which he prophesizes a society run by our primate cousins. Having a monkey queen would be the ultimate symbol of monkeys taking over (as envisaged in Planet of the Apes). This painting first appeared at a youth centre’s club called The Chill Out Zone on Broad Street in Newent in around 2004.