Exhibition: Who Needs Colour . . . : original paintings, drawings and prints by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Hockney, Riley, Haring, Hirst and Banksy for sale

Love Is In The Air is undoubtedly one of Banksy’s most iconic and most sought-after works of art. First appearing in 2003, Love is in the Air or Flower Thrower as it is also known, was a large, stencilled piece of graffiti that appeared following the building of the West Bank Wall which stretches some 750km and separates Palestine from Israel. Visually, the piece is characteristic of the artist’s street stencil graffiti style and, in typical Banksy aplomb, features a contrasting image that can be interpreted as playful as well as more serious. Central to the image the figure, silhouetted in black and dressed as a militant, wears a baseball cap and bandana to disguise their identity in a pose commonly associated with the throwing of a petrol bomb. However, the “Banksy twist” reverses this notion as the figure throws a bouquet of flowers. As with many of the artist’s works the image has also been repurposed and given a new context in the rare CCCP Flower Thrower. Believed to be from an edition of approximately only 8 - 10, this rare work seldom appears on the open market or at auction, the iconic flower thrower - in this instance - is clad in black against the red Soviet lettering: CCCP. The image makes one think of riots, repression and rebellion. Violent intent is an undercurrent of the work that the subject seems to try and escape through his throwing of flowers instead of weapons. Peace it seems is the way conflict should be settled not through violence or destruction. The bunch of flowers recalls innocence, of gifting and of settling arguments creating a message that is clear; peace not war and perhaps in its conjuring up of 60s riots is a nod towards the flower power movement of the epoque.