Terror Alert Queen

James Cauty, co-founder of The KLF, put the Queen in a gas mask in 2003, as the Iraq War began and the papers warned of chemical attacks on London. It became the defining image of his Blacksmoke imprint. Terror Alert Queen sets that gas-masked stamp profile against a Union Jack.

The first version, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class Stamps of Mass Destruction, went on show at the artrepublic gallery in Brighton in June 2003. Royal Mail threatened to sue, saying the work breached its copyright in the Queen's stamp portrait; the prints were taken down and the unsold copies were handed over to be destroyed. Press coverage at the time: BBC News, "Row over gas masked Queen" (4 June 2003), The Guardian, "Royal Mail stamps down on postage art" (4 June 2003) and BBC News, "Gas mask Queen removed from gallery" (16 June 2003). The story was also carried abroad: ABC News (Australia), "Stamps of mass destruction prompt complaint" and IOL (South Africa), "Masked queen gets royal stamp of disapproval" (both 5 June 2003).

This is number 1 of a planned edition of 10 in this larger size. Our understanding is that no further copies were printed after the legal threat, which would make it the only one at this size.

Artist: James Cauty
Medium: Screen print
Edition: 1 of 10 (Unique)
Signature: Signed

This piece comes framed.

UK delivery is arranged on purchase; large or framed pieces may be hand-delivered or collected. You’re welcome to view any piece at our Brighton gallery, by appointment.

Jimmy Cauty is one of British culture's great troublemakers. One half of The KLF, co-founder of The Orb, and one of the two men who burned a million pounds on the Isle of Jura in 1994 — a stunt still argued about thirty years later. Born on Merseyside in 1956, he works through satire and spectacle, often with the L-13 Light Industrial Workshop in London.

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