''Gorilla in a Pink Mask'' is an early graffiti work by

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

. In 2011, it was painted over by Saeed Ahmed's new Muslim cultural centre in Bristol. It originated from 2002. Monkeys are a recurring motif in Banksy's works. They can be found listening to music on headphones or in one case preparing to detonate a bomb. The artist uses them to portray both famous and everyday people, drawing parallels between

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

s and their closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Alongside Banksy's recurring subjects, which includes rats and police, he frequently uses monkeys to critique of power, corruption, and consumerism. ''

Gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

in a Pink Mask'' is believed to be the first time he used a primate, making it a precursor to ''Devolved Parliament'',Banksy, ''Devolved Parliament''
, Sotheby's, 3 October 2019 2009, a work in oil that depicts

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s and some

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s debating in the House of Commons. Other works have included ''Laugh Now'', 2003, which showed a row of

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

s with aprons with the inscription “Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge” and ''Monkey Queen'', 2003, where one is used as a stand-in for Queen Elizabeth II. Named variously as ''Masked Gorilla'', ''Glitter Gorilla'' and ''Pink Gorilla'', the work is most commonly called ''Gorilla in a Pink Mask''. It first appeared on the wall of the former North Bristol Social Club in Fishponds Road, Eastville, Bristol. This later became the Jalalabad Cultural Centre (Mosque), where it was painted over in 2011 by Saeed Ahmed, the owner of the centre. In September 2020, it was removed from the centre with permission by art restoration company Exposed Walls, which now owns the work.

References

2011 disestablishments in England Graffiti in England Lost paintings Gorillas in art Works by Banksy Arts in Bristol {{graffiti-stub

See also

References