Week 9 - Banksy

Banksy has been a controversial figure in British art for over a decade. Believed to have been born in in 1974 and originally trained as a butcher, his real identity is unknown. This adds to the mystique of his graffiti work, left around the cities of Britain and major cities in the rest of the world, filled with strong political, cultural and social messages. Anti-capitalism, Anti-war and Anti-totalitarianism have long been his status quo.

His work is seen as vandalism by some, but powerful and very much valid art by others. He works under secrecy, leaving his mark on almost any space he finds suitable, whether it be an old building, a footpath or in extreme cases, the Gaza Strip barrier wall. With the use of stencils, Banksy quickly puts up controversial images usually under the cover of night, containing very thought provoking messages that transcend regular "graffiti" art and blurs the thin line between art and vandalism.

However, Banksy's transcendent work obviously has it's place in the public forum. He raises genuine and interesting questions, instead using visual communication (over verbal) for it's power to influence and inform the masses.

An example of one of Banksy's most famous political works is "One Nation Under CCTV" (left). With the highest rate of security cameras and privacy questions often raised by the government and public alike, Britain is treading the border between security and prying eyes.

Taking the famed phrase from the US Pledge of Allegiance, Banksy modified the phrase to portray an image of modern day Britain, with a 3 storey high "ONE NATION UNDER CCTV", with a small boy on a ladder seemingly painting the letters as a police officer stands by. Ironically, the work was successfully completed right under a CCTV camera in a restricted area.

Another example of Banksy's controversial politically based works was his series of stencils on the Gaza Strip barrier wall. Allegedly threatened by Israeli border patrol soldiers during the making of these works, Banksy painted lighthearted images along the wall's side that opened up very un-lighthearted debates.

One of the images portrayed the other side of the wall as a paradise, a tropical island (right). Other's included images relating to escapisism - a tall ladder painted all the way up over the top of the wall. A girl flying away with helium balloons. A "cut line" for a entryway through the wall. Banksy's work is reason for debate, as he see's it, the wall turns Palestine into the "world's largest open-air prison".

With Banksy's art most often left to the public, the sale of his artworks becomes a difficult situation to gauge. There have been reports of people removing artworks from walls to sell and make money from his work. A family once sold their house when they realized the potential worth of the mural Banksy had painted on the side of it. The home was even listed as a "Banksy mural, with house attached".

While Banksy may not make money from these sales, he does make money from commissioned pieces and the sale of some of his works created with more traditonal mediums. Many of his works have sold for tens of thousands of pounds to some of the richest and most powerful people in the world with "Space Girl and Bird" setting the record at £288,000. Customers include everyone from A-List celebrities to hedge fund managers - sometimes the same kinds of people he targets with his messages.

While this may seem hypocritical, Banksy himself has little bearing on who buys his works as they are sold by auction. He makes no money from the use of his works on apparel or in books, and his exhibitions are always free. The financial gain, while massive, seems to be of little influence to Banksy himself. As he famously put it after a batch of his work sold for a combined total of over £400,000 in 2007 - "I can't believe you morons actually buy this shit".

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/who+is+banksy/460192
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/6351467.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6343197.stm