Sneezing Woman

Here is a moment that everyone knows too well. An elderly woman, bundled in a coat and headscarf, lets out an almighty sneeze. The force is so strong that her handbag and walking cane go flying off into the air, while her dentures appear to launch right out of her mouth. Banksy captured this with his signature stencil technique, using sprayed white lines to suggest the explosive blast of air. The grey background mimics the wall it was painted on, making the woman feel like she has been caught mid-action on an ordinary street.

This piece, often called "Aachoo!!", appeared in December 2020 on the side of a house in Bristol, England, which happens to be Banksy's hometown. The location was no accident. The house sits on one of the steepest streets in the city, so the tilted figure looks as though she is about to tumble down the hill. People quickly connected the artwork to the times, painted during a period when coughs and sneezes carried new weight in everyone's mind. Like much of Banksy's work, it blends street humor with a sly nod to the world around us, finding comedy in a small and very human mishap.