Banksy is such an interesting enigma. An artist, with very political statements, who defaces public spaces thereby breaking laws….but whose works are literally cut off of structures and have been sold for millions of dollars.
I often wonder if police have, in fact, encountered him while placing works and have recognized the intrinsic value of the voice and permitted him to finish. His use of stencils are, in his own words, a means to apply his art as rapidly as possible to evade police, but other works are clearly ones that take a long time to install.
We tend to ignore people when they appear to be doing something that our brains register as being a normal event. As someone said to me….go anywhere with a clipboard and you can literally get away with entering spaces you have no right to be and the people charged with keeping people out won’t even notice you because you look and act as if you are there for a formal purpose.
But the fact that he’s been able to remain anonymous to the larger public is really quite astonishing in today’s world of cell phone photo/videography, but also speaks a little to the fact that we are so distracted that we don’t observe obvious events happening right in front of us if they aren’t somehow disruptive and chaotic.
Banksy has managed to even install his art in major art galleries around the world without it being noticed among gallery collections by galleries/museum staff, sometimes for days. Peckham Rock, the small piece of art below, is a small piece of concrete etched with a caveman pushing a shopping cart and was smuggled into the British Museum in 2005, where is stayed for three days before being recognized as out of place. The piece was returned to Banksy, but eventually became a permanent modern art piece owned by the museum and loaned out for exhibits….like this current one in Vancouver.
I love the imagery, and the messaging behind the pieces is always thought provoking. It’s fascinating to produce art that is intended to generate conversation yet be ephemeral.
When I hear “Banksy” I think of the stencil artworks….but it was so interesting to see the other things that he has produced. Some of the images were compilations of classic-type paintings with stencils applied overtop that brought strong dichotomous contrast in style and interpretation. Like his quiet feeling painting of a waterfall and stream overlaid with a war helicopter stencil… sporting a pink bow and title Happy Helicopter.
While the large wall stencilled images were reproductions of the original works, their stores were included and some of them were strong messages. This one hit home. It is a statement on our interest in capturing beautiful things in image and on video….but it questions the harmful damage that we are incurring on the very places and things that we are trying to experience. Here the videographer is trying to steady the flower to capture it, but has torn it from the ground in the process. We seem bent on sharing our experiences rather than enjoy them in solitude and leave them be for others to do the same.
The exhibit included a completely mirrored room with Banksy’s art passing across the wall….which also then passed across the floor, the ceiling, and every other surface. It was fascinating and immersive.
There were some valuable reminders in his messaging, like the fact that a desire to make the world a better place is not necessarily an appropriate path as there are many different views of what a better place looks like, sounds like, includes. My interpretation of better is not necessary yours. Is one more “right” than the other? Perhaps, in some cases….but not all. The number nine can be argued to be a six depending on where you are standing. If we feel strongly about something, we should ask ourselves what we are not seeing or considering.
The painting below caught my eye for some time. It is so different from the rest of the work, a classic oil painting with a serene scene, and a joltingly terrible inclusion. “Guantanamo Bay depicts a kneeling man in an orange prison uniform in handcuffs with a black bag over his head on the shore of an idyllic oil painting of a seashore. The painting is a piece in his Crude Oils series in which he reproduces and hijacks traditional oil paintings by Old Masters, and even succeeded at smuggling them into exhibitions at major international museums such as The Louvre and the British Museum. Banksy juxtaposes the kitschy, classic style of landscape oil painting to the eerie, photorealistic figure. The title of the painting suggests the connection of the notorious American prison facility, Guantanamo Bay to the seascape portrayed in the piece.” (https://banksyexplained.com/guantanamo-bay-2006/)
Crisis as Usual captures the frenzied and disorganised nature of our daily lives. The simple, but eye-catching, piece conveys a message that we can find beauty in the midst of chaos and reminds us that we can overcome challenges that come our way. “This message is relevant and applicable in many scenarios, such as a bustling workplace, a family home with a busy schedule, a challenging project, or the current state of the world… It is Crisis as Usual”
The Walled Off Hotel is an actual place; “…a boutique hotel, located in Bethlehem, designed by Banksy alongside other creatives and notable academic Dr. David Grindon. Established in March 2017, and initially set out to be a temporary exhibition, the hotel has since attracted nearly 140,000 visitors, thanks in part to its location opposite the portion of the Israeli West Bank Barrier separating Bethlehem from the holy site of Rachel’s Tomb. The hotel is considered to be a key piece of social commentary on the Palestinians affected by the Israeli-Palestine Conflict and billed as having “the worst view of any hotel in the world”….”
This reproduction of a painting on a wall was thought provoking…both the image itself, and for what happened to it. Usually people love Banksy for his tags, the political content of accepted and enjoyed rarely challenged, usually appreciated. The Anti-immigrration Birds, depicting a group of pigeons holding signs including “Go Back to Africa”, while a more exotic-looking bird looked on, wasnt’ received well, or at least not by some. The local council removed the mural just a few hours after appearance, even before Banksy could announce it on his website. Destruction took place because of a complaint the work was racist. And it effectively was, but with the purpose of being satirical and disturbing.
But was it?
Banksy is known around the world for denouncing injustice, inequality, and contradictions in contemporary society, from excessive consumerism to climate change and the horrors of war in every form. The image was certainly a statement on racism…..but isn’t that the point? That we need to confront the things that are ugly about our own societies?
This little bird holding a grenade in its beak and bordered by a Looney Tunes-esque pink circle made a contrast between something happy and something terrible. The bird symbolized freedom and tranquility, yet here it becomes a harbinger of chaos and destruction through its association with the grenade. “Bird with Grenade is a critique of the way in which innocence and violence often intersect in contemporary society.“
The Girl with the Balloon is probably one of the most recognized Banksy images, but it gets interpreted in many different ways.,….ad this is one of the things I love about art in its most simple form. It makes us think…and it jars our creative and critical thinking centres. Art generates discussion, conversations about how we interpret the world around us and the people and things within it.
Is the girl sad because she is losing her balloon and feeling loss and struggle? Or is she reaching for a balloon that is floating in reach…signifying hope.
“Banksy left Girl With Balloon’s meaning characteristically coded, with the only clue an inscription accompanying his original stencil at Southbank: “There Is Always Hope”. Some people interpret Girl With Balloon as a symbol of lost innocence, whilst others believe the girl is setting the balloon free – either way, Banksy is reminding the viewer to hold on to hope, even when it feels out of reach.”
Girl with Balloon has been reused for different purposes, with different balloon colours, and different balloons. On Banksy’s rescue ship, the M.V. Louise Michel, the girl wears a life vest and reaches for a pink, heart-shaped, life ring.
In 2018, Banksy painted Girl with Balloon and framed it for auction at Sotheby’s in London. Moments after it sold, Banksy remotely triggered a shredder embedded in the frame. The event is captured in a short film, that was played at the gallery exhibit. The piece was then renamed “Love is in the Bin“. The buyer went through with the purchase and it was deemed to be the first piece of art actually created live at auction. The piece later sold again for a whopping £18,582,000 in 2021.
