Family Target appeared in 2003. The original’s condition is uncertain and the work serves as a manifesto addressing the impact of modern warfare on innocence.

At the centre of the work, a mother, father and child walk hand in hand, but a red crosshair is placed over the child’s head and the head itself is missing.

Banksy turns the family into a military target.

The message is brutal, direct and uncompromising: in a world where violence is executed with calculated precision, even the most vulnerable are not safe. The anonymity of the family universalises their plight: they could be anyone, anywhere.

The work critiques the collateral damage of modern warfare, the refugee crisis and the violence of capitalism. By taking the concept of ‘family’ both literally and metaphorically as a target, Banksy underlines the normalisation of violence.

Critics describe the work as ‘art that seizes the conscience’.