Crude Oil (Vettriano)
By Banksy, 2005
A tender moment plays out on a wet, golden shore. A couple sways in a slow dance, the woman in a flowing red dress, while a man in a top hat lifts an umbrella to shield them. If it feels familiar, that is on purpose. Banksy lifted this dreamy scene straight from Jack Vettriano's beloved "The Singing Butler," a print that hangs in countless British homes. But something is off. Toward the left edge, two figures in yellow hazmat suits are tipping a barrel of waste into the ocean, calm as can be.
This painting belongs to a series Banksy called "Crude Oils," exhibited in a London gallery in 2005. The show became infamous for its live rats, which he let loose to scurry among the canvases. The humor here bites. The stylish couple dances on, oblivious, while poison seeps into the water behind them. Banksy loves borrowing pretty, well known images and slipping in something ugly to make a point, and pollution is his target this time, along with our habit of looking away from the mess we make.
Vettriano, for his part, reportedly took the parody with a smile, which suits a work that jokes and jabs at once. Some viewers find it witty, others think it lays the message on too thick. Either way, it is a neat example of Banksy tucking a sharp idea inside something soft and appealing.