1. Vidisha Singh
Art Analysis
England’s secretive graffiti artist, Banksy decorated the West Bank on the Palestinian side
with satirical graffitis portraying ongoing distress between Palestine and Israel. On the 425-mile
long Barrier, Banksy produced a graffiti of a girl frisking a solider for any weapons. He created
this graffiti in 2005 in Palestine on the West Bank Barrier, which was meant to protect Israel
from Palestinians and draw boundary line between those countries, which cuts into Palestine.
This painting possibly shows innocence/avenge but it’s hard to aver the clear message as it’s rare
to stumble across a girl inspecting a soldier, but most definitely it’s an ironical and satirical piece
of work, whose significance is hard to grasp.
Interested by the conflict between Palestine and Israel, Banksy established his critical
graffiti work on the conflict, showing irony as the friction between Palestine and Israel cannot
easily be resolved. Israelis count themselves safer as their territory has important establishments:
schools, hospitals, offices, etc but the main point of Israel’s Barrier is to keep their civilians safe
from Palestinians, especially suicide bombers. Whereas for the Palestinians, the Barrier has cut
into their lands, separated them from their relatives, schools, workplaces, humanitarian services
(water resources, hospitals etc), which complicates their lifestyle. Entering the other side requires
a permit, which must be obtained plus the gates are open 3 times/day for 20 minutes but it’s
unpredictable.
In Banksy’s graffiti artwork, he shows a bent girl searching the soldier as if she’s the
inspector. He’s used satire to show the innocent trying to protect her surroundings by searching
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2. Vidisha Singh
the soldier whom might be from the other side or he might have tried to describe the inequality
of freedom given to the girl’s side, as it is shown in a satirical manner. The girl is shown wearing
a pink dress, which gives the feeling of innocence and purity, as most commonly pink is
associated with a girl- she could be described as girly and youthful. Despite that, the graffiti
shows that the girl searching through the soldier for any perilous equipment that might cause
chaos, which is not typical for any normal girl to pursue. However, on the other side the
soldier’s wearing his military uniform with bulletproof vest and a helmet. His stance is in a
surrender position- with his hands up and legs inlined with his shoulders. The emotions or any
facial expression doesn’t seem to be shown, this might have been done purposely for the viewers
to create their own conclusion. From the ironic stance of these two symbolic figures, which
seems to be swapped- their places and their characteristics as it’s quite clear that this had been
done intentionally to get the viewer to create their own understanding and interpret the graffiti to
their logic.
Using the same techniques he used to create his other artworks, Banksy used the same
method and techniques to create this artwork. He uses stencils and spray paints to make graffitis
on the wall, it’s like his signature style to describe the conflict. Using various types of colors-
varying from a color’s hues- tints to its shades, he was successfully able to show the textures of
the military apparel the soldier was wearing, the pink dress the girl was wearing, the gun and etc.
The textures shown in this graffiti painting were shown as corrugated and simulated as if 3D, that
might have been the goal to make his painting 3-dimensional. According to the graffiti, the light
seems to be appearing from the left, which if it was east it’s sunrise but if west it’s sunset. But
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3. Vidisha Singh
because of the strong light illuminating both of the characters it is to be believed that the scene is
taking place in the morning. This painting has been done like a life-size figure by that means
almost real with similar human qualities-especially height and size. Nothing about the characters
are exaggerated. He’s represented the two characters by the color they are wearing but their
ideals are just swapped. For example, the girl’s wearing bright colors explaining her young and
innocent personality, while the soldier is wearing olive green color describing the dark
atmosphere he’s been trained in and served to do, but its shown completely opposite.
Banksy’s “Pink Dress” artwork shows the theme of irony and satire as the characters
overall personality’s been switched around but their apparel remains similar to mock itself. His
aspect might have been to show the torture and insufficient freedom the girl receives. This whole
painting seems to be based on the girl as she seems to play a vital role of retaliating.
Overall, Banksy has successful shown his views on the conflict but wanted this painting
to be self-interpreted with his technique of using stencil and spray-paints. He centered the irony
of the conflict by switching the character’s personality and showing the idea of avenge and
limited freedom. He centered the girl to represent the population of Palestine but her doings were
of Israelis. The artwork expressed the life of Palestinians also showing the extreme security from
the Israelis.
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