D*Face x Banksy "American Depress" Faux Credit Card - Dismaland 2015 Art Print
- Original art with certificate
- Fully insured tracked delivery
- 30-day returns, no questions asked
AuthenticationBANKSY SIGNATURE STAMP • D*FACE INK STAMP • DISMALAND STAMP • DISMALAND PROVENANCE
About the WorkD*Face originally created the "American Depress" card in 2008 for his "aPOPcalypse Now" solo exhibition at Black Rat Press in London — a show that sold out and marked a breakthrough moment in his gallery career. The concept is surgical: take the most recognizable financial instrument in the world — the American Express card, with its centurion logo, its embossed lettering, its aura of purchasing power — and change exactly one word. "Express" becomes "Depress." The card's back carries the inscription: "This card was issued as an unauthorized comment on our increasingly conspicuous consumer consumption." The "Your Name" indent at the bottom left of the front makes every viewer the cardholder. This is D*Face at his sharpest: the humor lands immediately, but the object lingers. The card is printed on the same material, at the same size, with the same embossed texture as the real thing. It doesn't represent consumer culture — it is consumer culture, physically identical to the object it critiques, indistinguishable in your wallet until you read the name. The medium is the message in the most literal sense possible. When Banksy organized Dismaland in 2015, the "American Depress" card was a natural fit for the event's anti-consumer architecture. D*Face's card became one of the collectible multiples distributed to visitors alongside other souvenirs from the park's gift shop — which, in true Banksy fashion, visitors were forced to exit through. The Dismaland versions received Banksy's signature stencil on the card's signature strip — a layered joke (Banksy "signing" a credit card, on a line designed for your signature, on a card that isn't real) that perfectly merged D*Face's consumer satire with Banksy's institutional subversion.
Two variants, one clear winner: Cards distributed at Dismaland received one of two stamps on the signature strip: a "Banksy" signature stencil or a "Dismaland" logo stamp. The Banksy-signed version is significantly more desirable on the secondary market because it represents one of the few categories of distributable object to carry a direct Banksy mark. This listing is for the Banksy-stamped variant.
The inscription as manifesto: The text on the verso — "This card was issued as an unauthorized comment on our increasingly conspicuous consumer consumption" — is printed in the same fine type and positioning where a real credit card's terms and conditions would appear. D*Face hijacks the format of corporate legal language to deliver an anti-corporate message. The word "unauthorized" does double duty: it describes the card's status as a parody and implies that genuine critique of consumer culture requires operating outside authorized channels. This is the conceptual DNA that made the piece a natural centerpiece for Banksy's Dismaland project.
About DismalandDismaland Bemusement Park was a temporary art installation organized and financed by Banksy, constructed inside the Tropicana — a derelict, abandoned lido on the seafront of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Banksy described it as "a family theme park unsuitable for children." The project was prepared entirely in secret. Local residents were told a Hollywood production company called "Atlas Entertainment" was filming a thriller called "Grey Fox." Construction workers didn't know what they were building. The 58 participating artists — including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jimmy Cauty, David Shrigley, and Jeff Gillette — were among the 60 Banksy originally invited. Banksy himself contributed ten new works and funded the entire construction. The park opened August 21, 2015 and closed permanently September 27, 2015 — a 36-day run. Tickets were priced at £3, with 4,000 available per day. The website crashed repeatedly from demand. 150,000 visitors attended over five weeks, boosting Weston-super-Mare's economy by an estimated £20 million. Celebrities including Brad Pitt, Jack Black, and Russell Brand visited. After closing, building materials were repurposed as refugee shelters. Features included a decrepit fairy castle with a crashed Cinderella coach surrounded by paparazzi, a Ferris wheel, David Shrigley's impossible fairground games, a fake NSA security screening by Bill Barminski, intentionally rude staff trained to say "Have a dismal life" at the exit, and — of course — a gift shop you were forced to walk through to leave. Dismaland remains one of the most ambitious and culturally significant art events of the 2010s. About the FramingThis card has been professionally custom framed by Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco — a gallery specializing in authenticated street art and music memorabilia since 2012. The framing solution was designed specifically for this piece: a floating clear thick acrylic frame that suspends the card and allows both the front design and the Banksy-stamped reverse to be fully visible simultaneously. Gold hardware complements the card's embossed aesthetic without competing with it. The dual-visibility design is critical for this particular work. The front carries D*Face's graphic design — the "American Depress" parody that reads at a glance. The back carries the authentication trifecta: Banksy signature stencil, D*Face stamp, and Dismaland stamp, plus the verso inscription that functions as the work's conceptual statement. A traditional frame would hide half the artwork. The floating acrylic solution ensures nothing is lost. Why This Piece Works on a WallThe "American Depress" card is one of those objects that stops a conversation. It's physically small — credit card dimensions — but conceptually enormous. Visitors lean in, read "American Depress," and the joke detonates. Then they notice the Banksy stamp. Then they ask what Dismaland was, and you get to tell them the whole story: the secret construction, the fake film company, the rude staff, the 150,000 people who lined up to experience a theme park designed to make them miserable. The floating acrylic frame turns a pocket-sized object into a display piece that commands attention precisely because it's so small — it forces engagement at close range, which is exactly how the best street art multiples work. About D*FaceD*Face (Dean Stockton, b. 1978, London) is one of the most prolific and recognized street artists of his generation. Growing up in London, he discovered street art through Henry Chalfant's documentation of New York subway graffiti and the skateboard graphics of Thrasher magazine. After working in advertising — an experience that taught him how images manipulate attention — he began pasting hand-drawn stickers and posters across London's streets. D*Face's work targets consumerism, celebrity culture, and the American Dream through a pop art lens influenced by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, filtered through punk and skate culture's DIY ethos. His recurring motifs — grinning skulls, winged figures, corrupted brand logos — use the visual language of commerce to undermine it. In 2005, D*Face founded StolenSpace Gallery in Shoreditch — one of London's first galleries dedicated to urban contemporary art — which has exhibited Shepard Fairey, KAWS, ROA, and other major figures. His commercial collaborations include album artwork for Blink-182 (California, 2016) and Christina Aguilera (Bionic, 2010), a Penguin Books 50th anniversary cover commission, David Beckham's Haig Club whisky limited edition, and partnerships with Triumph Motorcycles, Uniqlo, and Zippo. His identity remained a mystery until 2008, when he revealed his name — fitting for a reported friend of the most anonymous artist in the world. About BanksyBanksy is the pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and filmmaker whose work has defined the intersection of street art, institutional critique, and mass culture since the 1990s. Operating from the Bristol graffiti scene, Banksy developed a stencil-based practice that combines dark humor with pointed social commentary, placing works on public walls, bridges, and buildings worldwide — always without permission, always anonymously. Beyond street interventions, Banksy has orchestrated some of the most audacious art events in recent history: infiltrating the Tate and the Louvre to hang unauthorized works, staging the 2006 warehouse exhibition "Barely Legal" in Los Angeles (where a live painted elephant became the centerpiece), constructing the Walled Off Hotel overlooking Israel's West Bank barrier, and — most infamously — remotely shredding his own painting Girl with Balloon seconds after it sold for £1.04 million at Sotheby's in 2018, an act that instantly doubled the work's value. Dismaland (2015) remains the largest and most complex Banksy-organized event to date, and objects bearing direct Banksy marks from the exhibition have become among the most sought-after Banksy-adjacent collectibles in the market. What Is Included
Ships framed with protective materials and full insurance. Who This Is ForThis piece sits at the intersection of several collector categories. For Banksy collectors, it's one of the few distributable objects carrying a direct Banksy mark — an event-specific artifact from a 36-day exhibition that will never be repeated. For D*Face collectors, it's the most culturally significant edition of one of his most iconic designs, elevated by the Banksy collaboration and Dismaland provenance. For street art collectors broadly, it's a museum-quality conversation piece that connects two of the most important British street artists through an object that perfectly embodies both of their practices: D*Face's consumer satire and Banksy's institutional subversion, fused into a single credit-card-sized artwork. The Gauntlet Gallery custom framing makes it immediately wall-ready — no additional investment or decision-making required.
Also available from our store: We carry a growing collection of authenticated street art prints and memorabilia — including signed limited edition screen prints by Shepard Fairey / Obey Giant, Death NYC, and other leading figures in contemporary urban art. Search "Gauntlet Gallery" on eBay to browse the full selection.
ShippingThis piece ships framed with protective materials to prevent surface contact and damage during transit. Fully insured with tracking. International shipping available upon request. GAUNTLET GALLERY San Francisco • Authenticated Street Art and Music Memorabilia Since 2012 Browse our full collection of signed prints, authenticated memorabilia, and rare collectibles. Search "Gauntlet Gallery" on eBay to browse our full store Questions? Message us anytime — happy to provide additional photos or details. Serious collectors welcome.
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