“Slave Labour” by Banksy is a contemporary street art painting that was displayed in the underprivileged Haringey area of England. The artwork depicting a barefoot boy using a sewing machine to make Union Jacks banners, apparently in a sweatshop, appeared on the outside wall of a Poundland store in Wood Green in May 2012.
Presentation of the work
“Slave Labor” one of Banksy’s most publicized and poignant examples of social satire, helped bring international attention to the exploitation of young people. In 2012, the world was introduced to the artist’s work, a 4-foot-tall, 5-foot-wide contemporary painting of a child in shorts and a T-shirt in white and black. Barefoot, the child is kneeling in front of a sewing machine, which he uses to make banners Union Jacks. Note at this level that these are real banners that the artist has integrated into his painting. Immediately, the comments are going well on the work of Banksy. Some see it as a satire of the 2012 Olympic Games, others link it to the discovery, in 2010, of a seven-year-old child working in a sewing workshop that produces sweatshirts for the British stores Poundland in India.
Banksy, an artist as famous as he is anonymous !
Banksy’s work will be suddenly removed from the public space in 2013 to be sold at auction. In reaction, the artist quotes Henri Matisse on his website saying: “I was very embarrassed when my paintings began to reach high prices; I saw myself condemned to have to paint only masterpieces in the future. It is worth noting that Banksy is probably one of the best known and most reputable artists in the street art world. That said, he is also one of the most discreet artists. We know very little about him. It is assumed that he was born in 1974 in England, in Bristol. What we do know, however, is that his works, resolutely political, are full of black humor and satire.