In late 1996, Banksy became involved with a football club in the UK called the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls. In 1999, players from the Bristol-based team travelled to Chiapas, Mexico, to play in some exhibition games against local teams. 

This region in Mexico, near the Guatemalan border, is controlled by the Zapatista army – a revolutionary group consisting largely of indigenous people fighting for indigenous rights against the oppressing and corrupt Mexican Government. The land there is rich in resources, including petroleum, coffee, uranium and even hydro-electric power. However, the local indigenous inhabitants do not receive the benefits of these resources.

The leader of the Zapatista army was Subcommander Marcos, a legendary and often masked figure, who when he has spoken in interviews, is calmly spoken and intelligent – a figure much like Banksy himself. 

Members of the Easton Cowboys realised that many of the people in the area did not have access to clean drinking water and other necessities, so decided to ask Banksy if he could donate an artwork to raise money for water projects in the area. He obliged offering a stencil-sprayed canvas, which was then raffled, raising £300. 

In 2001 the Bristolian team returned to Chiapas, with Banksy playing as their goalkeeper. The infamous artist used this opportunity to paint murals on farmland buildings. The largest being a ‘Zapatista Freedom Footballer’, surmounted with the phrase, ‘a la Libertad por el futbol’, which translates as ‘to Freedom of football’. 

That artwork was almost identical to this one, showing a masked Zapatista freedom fighter performing an acrobatic overhead kick on a ball. 

In this version on display, it is not a ball kicked, but a grenade, with only its lock pin remaining mid-air. There is also a large red star behind the soldier, representing the symbol for revolution. Subcommander Marcos also wore red stars prominently in the front of his khaki army cap – perhaps Banksy meant this figure to be Marcos? 

This painting is completed on wooden board using a mixture of spray and acrylic paint and is unique in its format. 

It originates from 2001 when Banksy was still working from his Wall of Sound-provided studio in West London. This piece may well have been a precursor for the final artwork produced in Mexico.

The back of the board was used by the artist to cut various stencils on, and if examined carefully, you can still see the carved outline his early ‘Banksy’ tags, etched into the wood. 

It is extremely rare to see the remnants of Banksy’s workings within an artwork – and makes for an unusual aesthetic treat.