Between 2002 and 2003, Banksy designed four album covers for the Bad Meaning Good music compilations. Created from tracks chosen by different artists and recorded on CD and vinyl, these compilations range from electronic and hip-hop, to jazz, rock, funk and reggae. The present work is taken from the Bad Meaning Good Volume 1 album and presents tracks selected by Skitz. This album cover features a large orange X in the background and a stencilled monochromatic black and white machine gun over the top. The machine gun wears large oversized sneakers, which undermines the sinister and violent iconography of the image, emphasising Banksy’s inherently satirical style.

The other three album covers which make up the Bad Meaning Good collects ion also feature large X’s and various other symbols of control and authority which have been subtly reworked in a typical Banksy-esque fashion. The guerrilla-styled stencil graffiti is immediately recognisable as Banksy - “As soon as I cut my first stencil, I could feel the power there. I also like the political edge. All graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history. They’ve been used to start revolutions and to stop wars” (Banksy cited in: Will Ellsworth-Jones, ‘The Story Behind Banksy’, Smithsonian Magazine, February 2013, online).

Despite having often stated that he turns down nearly all commercial commissions, Banksy has collaborated with numerous artists on their album covers. Among them were six album covers for One Cut in 1998, four covers for Blak Twang in 2002, and six covers for rock legends Blur in 2003. The most famous of which is Blur’s seventh studio album released in May 2003 called Think Tank which features a couple wearing aqualungs and kissing. “I’ve done a few things to pay the bills, and I did the Blur album. It was a good record and [the commission was] quite a lot of money. I think that’s a really important distinction to make. If it’s something you actually believe in, doing something commercial doesn’t turn it to shit just because it’s commercial. Otherwise you’ve got to be a socialist rejecting capitalism altogether, because the idea that you can marry a quality product with a quality visual and be a part of that even though it’s capitalistic is somet.mes s a contradiction you can’t live with. But somet.mes s it’s pretty symbiotic, like the Blur situation” (Banksy cited in: Will Ellsworth-Jones, ‘The Story Behind Banksy’, Smithsonian Magazine, February 2013, online).

As one of the defining artists of the contemporary art world, Banksy has left an enduring legacy. Emerging as a street artist in the early 1990s, he never shied away from political and social commentary through his satirical and subversive works. His indifference to his celebrity status has cemented his legacy as outlaw who stands in stark opposition to the established order of the art world. Managing to straddle the commercial, artistic and street worlds, Banksy’s satire and oftent.mes s biting social commentary is layered with meaning and poignant humour.