Unforgettable You

In Unforgettable You, Steve Lazarides captures a pivotal moment in Banksy’s career: the Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles, September 2006. At its centre stood a 37-year-old Indian elephant named Tai, painted in non-toxic colours to blend with the surrounding wallpaper, a literal and unforgettable embodiment of the “elephant in the room.”

Guests were handed cards that read: “THERE’S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. THERE’S A PROBLEM WE NEVER TALK ABOUT… 1.7 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE NO ACCESS TO CLEAN DRINKING WATER… ANYBODY WANT A FREE GLASS OF WINE?”  Banksy’s intervention was both audacious and unmissable, confronting global poverty with theatrical force.

Photographed by Lazarides—Banksy’s original photographer, agent, and close collaborator—the work preserves not just the spectacle of the installation but its cultural impact. With celebrity attendees, including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and international press, Barely Legal marked Banksy’s breakthrough on the U.S. stage. Unforgettable You exemplifies Lazarides’s role as custodian of these defining moments, offering collectors a rare record of the artist’s rise to global prominence.