Welcome Mat (#1140)

Low edition number! One of the first batches released.

A highly sought after item featured in Banksy's store 'Gross Domestic Product' for just 2 weeks in Croydon, London. This hard wearing floor covering is hand stitched from life vests abandoned on the beaches of Lesvos by migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Each mat is one of a kind due to the variations in which the life vests were stitched onto the fabric.

These mats are getting increasingly rare as the manufacture has halted crafting anymore batches.

Dimensions: 17 x 24 x 2 inches / 43 x 60 x 4 cm

Medium: Hand-Stitched Floor Mat (Textile). Includes original Love Welcomes receipt and packaging.

Provenance: Comes with original receipt, packaging, and a stitched Gross Domestic Product tag featuring the edition number and Banksy's plated signature.

Edition: Limited Edition #1140 (low number!)

Year: 2019

Condition: New

ABOUT THE ART

Love Welcomes Co-founder Abi Hewitt said "In creating this new Welcome Mat Banksy has helped refugees to find self worth, dignity and hope. Living in a refugee camp shouldn't stop your dreams, this is keeping hope alive. Each time you buy a Welcome Mat you're supporting a refugee and their family as they begin to rebuild lives shattered by war, one stitch at a time".
This hard wearing floor covering is hand stitched from life vests abandoned on the beaches of Lesvos by migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Customers are advised that they no longer constitute a valid buoyancy aid - although shockingly they never did - many are cheap fakes sold by people smugglers and don't actually float".

ARTIST BIO

Banksy (British, born c. 1974/1975) is one of the most well-known, if anonymous, street artists working today. Banksy, the pseudonym adopted by the artist, guards his privacy and the details of his life remain largely unknown to the public. He initially garnered fame for his graffiti, which combines spray paint and stenciling techniques with commercial, political, and contemporary imagery, infused with ironic social commentary and humor. His work first began appearing on walls in and around Bristol and London’s Shoreditch district during the mid-1990s, and he has since gone on to place images on the sides of corporate buildings, billboards, and the Israeli West Bank wall.

The unveiling of a new Banksy works often incorporates pranks or performance. For example, he secretly added his own pieces in museums like the Tate Modern in London or the Paris Louvre, smuggling them in under a coat and discreetly affixing them to a wall. He has also opened gallery shows to the public with specially-bred rats running around the space, and once inserted an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner into the Disneyland theme park in California.

In 2015, Banksy created a large-scale installation titled Dismaland Bemusement Park, and immersive and fully functional amusement park that featured political commentary on the distribution of wealth, sexism, and the UK government. The park operated from August to September of 2015, was funded by Banksy himself. In addition to his regular graffiti practice, Banksy creates works for several charities, and consistently opens exhibitions to wide audiences and critical acclaim. He lives and works in England.