Description
‘If Graffiti Changed Anything It Would Be Illegal‘
by Banksy
(Unsigned)
‘If Graffiti Changed Anything It Would Be Illegal’ mural was located on a wall on Clipstone Street, Fitzrovia, London and appeared overnight on Easter Monday in 2011. It depicts one of Banksy’s iconic rats underneath the writing in red reading, “If graffiti changed anything, it would be illegal”. This is a reference to a quote by 20th-century political activist Emma Goldman who campaigned for Women’s rights, her words were: “If voting ever changed anything, it would be illegal”.
Shortly after it appeared, a local campaign was launched to save the mural from removal by Westminster City Council, and it was protected by a layer of Perspex, even though much of it was covered in tags and graffiti.
The rat had red paint dripping from its hand and unusually there was a rendition of its handprint on the wall too. At the time of painting the colour and detail on the rat was a cut above most of Banksy’s rat stencils to this date.
The wall it was painted on was already breaking up and peeling at the time of installation and the piece was soon covered in plexiglass for protection. Its decay continued and eventually, the section of the wall it was painted on was professionally removed by Erith Contractors (who were up for an award for this as part of the World Demolition Awards in 2020), the building itself has since been demolished.
Year: 2012
Signed: No
Medium: Photograph
Martin Bull
Martin Bull
Martin Bull