“Flower Thrower” by Banksy, an anonymous street artist from the United Kingdom, is one of the artist’s most iconic creations. It goes by other names such as “Rage”, “The Flower Bomber” or “Love is in The Air”. The piece is unique in the way that the man looks like he is about to commit a violent action, however, in his hands is a bouquet of vibrant flowers instead of a weapon.
I decided that I wanted to recreate “Flower Thrower” in the art style used by Roy Lichtenstein.
Roy Lichtenstein was born in Manhattan, New York in 1923 and is popular for his distinctive style. Many of his more popular pieces look like comic book art and are usually an exaggeration of pop culture. He is often associated with artists like Andy Warhol who also took inspiration from pop culture when creating his pieces and was involved in the Pop Art movement.
Though Banksy and Roy Lichtenstein are from two different time periods and have very different styles, I realized how many similarities they shared with one another, not just in the way their art looks, but also in their artistic process. As we studied the various pieces that Banksy created in New York in class, I noticed that he used his art to express his thoughts on relevant topics and events, but also just for fun as much of his work has comedic undertones. While researching Lichtenstein, I found that it was almost the same case for him. Lichtenstein and Banksy are also known to use stencils to make their art and their pieces contain many strong lines and shapes.
When remaking Flower Thrower in Roy Lichtenstein’s style, I still wanted to try and preserve the meaning of Flower Thrower, which is why I decided to keep the flowers colorful instead of using the primary colors like Roy Lichtenstein often does, since the vibrant colors stand out from the rest of the piece. I also decided to give the man in Flower Thrower a face, instead of covering it with a mask/scarf like in the original, because I wanted to make his expression of rage clear to viewers and it also seems to align with Lichtenstein’s work more. The combination of Lichtenstein’s style with Banksy’s art creates an eccentric piece that is fun to look at, but still provides a positive message.
Works Cited
“Banksy Advocates for Peace with ‘Rage, the Flower Thrower’.” Thursd, 23 Aug. 2021, https://thursd.com/articles/banksy-advocates-for-peace-with-rage-the-flower-thrower.
Publicdelivery. “Banksy’s Rage, the Flower Thrower – Everything You Need To Know.” – Public Delivery, 3 July 2022, https://publicdelivery.org/banksy-flower-thrower/.
Tate. “Roy Lichtenstein 1923–1997.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1990, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/roy-lichtenstein-1508.
