'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
Love Is In The Air is one of Banksy’s most identifiable and famed motifs. The present work is characteristic of Banksy’s use of dark and humorous imagery. He is intentional about the juxtaposition of opposite symbols and clichés which draws inspiration from socio-political contexts.
Banksy created the original ‘Love is in the Air’ stencil following his first solo exhibition at Gallery 33 1/3 in Los Angeles, 2002. The image first appeared as graffiti on Jerusalem’s West Bank Wall, that separates Israel from Palestine. The image was later reproduced as a print with the red background, circa 2003. That same year, it could also have been spotted spray painted on a wall off London’s Rivington Street. Subsequently, Banksy has creating several versions of the work, constantly reworking the stencil throughout his career.
Love Is In The Air epitomises Banksy’s most prominent motifs and themes, reminiscent of the images from the street and campus riots of the 1960s. The image of a young man with his face partially covered by a bandana and a ball cap, leans backwards in momentum to detonate what is ironically seen as a bouquet of flowers. The furrowed brows and menacing posture suggest a violent intent, yet the flowers add a humorous quality to the composition. The deep red, a colour of both hatred and passion, further emphasises the contrast between the forceful posture and the launch of what is the epitome of peace and love. This recognisable image now serves as a symbol of peaceful protest, becoming an excellent example of how the anonymous artist uses art to convey messages of social significance, as he himself has remarked, ‘If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to wear a mask.’i
Though initially Banksy gained his notoriety through a range of illicit interventions, such as modifying street signs and hanging his own works in institutions, by bringing street art into the gallery space he has established its status in the art world. He elevated something that was previously viewed as vandalism and is now a call for peace delivered with a force no less powerful than a grenade.
