Painting celebrating the world’s real superheroes sold for £16m6 min read
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Look at this painting. What does it mean to you? Do you feel the incredible power of the superheroes of the present? Well, so did the world because this painting, called Game Changer, was sold for £16m and the funds from the sale have gone towards an NHS (National Health Service) charity in the UK. The painting, by the mysterious artist Banksy, was auctioned for charity, specifically for the NHS.
Owliver’s Obscure Facts: The NHS (National Health Service) is an umbrella term for the public healthcare services in the United Kingdom.

Game Changer portrays a young boy kneeling and playing with a nurse superhero doll, complete with cape, while Batman and Spider-Man lie discarded in a nearby toy bin. This is a reference to the hard work healthcare workers, such as nurses, have put into fighting the coronavirus pandemic!
Now, Game Changer has been hung at the Southampton General Hospital for everyone to see as they walk in.
The artwork was delivered to the hospital with a note, which read, “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.” The delivery was from Banksy, who likes to keep his identity unknown.
So who is Banksy?
Who is Banksy? This is a question a LOT of people have asked, wondered about and even investigated over the years. There have also been numerous theories about who the artist, or artists, is, but with no luck in getting closer to identity.
Here’s what we do know about the artist – he/she/they is a British graffiti artist who displays pieces of art in public spaces, and usually only reveals that the artwork is by them after it is on social media.
Let’s look at some of Banksy’s other work

Credit: Getty Images

Credit: The Guy in the Grey Scarf



Credit: Cannon Snapper
People familiar with Banksy’s work will always recognise a piece as there is a particular style that the artist follows. Banksy’s work is known for making strong political and social statements. Apart from street art, Banksy has produced drawings, paintings, installations and even a theme park!
A Banksy-style prank
In 2018, Banksy shocked the art world with a prank like no other – self-destructing one of his best-known works moments after it fetched more than a million pounds at an auction in London.
Girl with Balloon had just sold for £1,042,000 ($1.4 million), when an alarm suddenly went off, and the painting started to unexpectedly passed through a shredder hidden in the frame.
Banksy posted a video on his Instagram page accompanied by a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso – “the urge to destroy is also a creative urge” – showing the stunt unfolding and how he pulled it off.
Watch the video of the self-destructing artwork below:
Pandemic art

Game Changer was not Banksy’s only pandemic work. Banksy also left stencilled rats with face masks around the London Underground – which were removed for violating transport laws. Back in December, Banksy drew a mural of a woman violently sneezing on the side of a home in Totterdown in England.
Sources: BBC, Indian Express, Metro UK