![]() The mural’s content drew added significance from its location, positioned right next to a wall-mounted cadre of real closed-circuit cameras.īanksy, you see, had received permission from the Royal Mail to erect a piece of artwork on the wall, sight unseen. Then there’s his famous 2008 mural One Nation Under CCTV, which depicted a hooded graffiti artist whitewashing the piece’s title onto a wall as he’s filmed by a uniformed police officer. One of the thrilling water attractions at Dismaland. As visitors to the exhibit wandered through the pop-up theme park, they were greeted by “specially trained surly and unhelpful staff,” and a wonderland of surreal, dystopian excess. Take, for example, Dismaland, his huge interactive 2015 art exhibit that satirized Disneyland by turning it into a wasteland - kind of like Fyre Festival for the kid in all of us. And like the best tricksters, his stunts undermine the cultural context that allowed them to happen in the first place. ![]() Many of his guerrilla art pieces, as well as his lavish pranks, stunts, and installations, have been crafted as subversions of traditionalist approaches to art, reacting against the political establishment and calling attention to the mechanisms by which these traditions and power structures are upheld. But while Banksy has gained so much respect in the art world that his works now, ironically, sell for millions, his basic outsider stance has never changed. ![]() Banksy never met an establishment he couldn’t trollĪctive since the mid-’90s, Banksy gradually became a legend among street artists - and then a legend among all artists - thanks to his distinctive stenciled designs, his brilliant sociopolitical satire, and his ninja-like skills at evasion.īeginning around the turn of the millennium, works like Balloon Girl, Yellow Lines Flower, and Bomb Hugger would pop up overnight on walls in towns across the UK, challenging the conventional wisdom about the worthless value of “graffiti.” As respect grew for Banksy’s skill, and for his apparent ability to come and go without detection, so did the valuation of his works.īanksy has arguably done more than any other contemporary artist to change the way street art is regarded by the artistic establishment. But knowing Banksy, that’s all a part of the point he’s trying to make about the way popularity bestows value in an age of commodification. It seems ironic that now, post-shredding, Banksy’s art piece may be worth even more money than it was before the auction hammer went down, thanks to the tremendous viral moment his stunt engendered. To understand, we have to take a look at Banksy’s history of subversive, highly politicized artwork, which is often accompanied by pointed stunts - many of them conceived to undermine power structures and call attention to the superficiality of the world we live in. In a statement released by Sotheby’s following the shredding, Sotheby’s senior director Alex Branczik said, “It appears we just got Banksy-ed.”īut what exactly does getting “Banksy-ed” mean in this context?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |