Year: 2005
Medium: screenprint in colors, signed in pencil
Dimensions: image: 45 x 64.9 cm (17 3/4 x 25 1/2 in.) sheet: 50 x 69.9 cm (19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Edition: #62 of 350
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022
A rare work without any confirmation of the original mural and was only published as a print. At first, one can see two smiling children running happily, carrying a flower basket with a background as clear as the blue sky. They are wearing bulletproof vests with the word “POLICE” highlighted in yellow on their chests. Are they playing a pretend police game? There is a traditional English nursery rhyme called “Jack and Jill”. It is uncertain whether it was meant to mock the ruling power (the king) of the time, but Banksy, a native from Bristol (UK) should be aware of this. As the police is also a symbol of public power and authority, this joyful painting suddenly takes on an opposite meaning. The kind of heavy humor only unique to Banksy.
