Banksy: Guerilla artist

The old ATU Banksy thread resurrected.

I love it. Thanks for reposting this, Eddie. It's the first time I see something by Banksy... and I think I finally have an avatar

guacamayo wrote:I think I finally have an avatar

Great choice!

It's tragic that so many images were lost from the old ATU Banksy thread in the shipwreck, but I'm certain that this is one thread that will fill up very quickly- once things have settled down here a bit.

Brick Lane, East London.

Archway, North London.

Charles Manson in a prison suit hitchiking to 'anywhere'.

Ozone's Angel.

(Note: Ozone was a graffiti artist killed by a London Underground tube train whilst trespassing on the tracks.)

Banksy's "Stonehenge" , constructed from portable toilets at the 2007 Glastonbury Music Festival, England.

Banksy "Swinger" in (post-Katrina) New Orleans.

Work on building in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, August 2008

Lines for Banksy's Summer Homecoming Show in Bristol, June 2009.

I've got this Banksy compilation volume on my book shelf: highly recommended:

Near Bethlehem, 2005.

Graffiti depicting graffiti removal by Banksy. Created in May 2008 at Leake Street in London, painted over by August 2008. Notice the animals resembling cave art from Lascaux or Altamira.

ATM attacking a girl. Rosebery Avenue, London, 2008.

Banksy wades into Catholic church sex abuse scandal with new sculpture

Cardinal Sin is the bust of a priest with its face sawn off and replaced with a mosaic of bathroom tiles

David Batty

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 December 2011 21.12 GMT


Banksy's 'Cardinal Sin' has been loaned indefinitely to Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Banksy has waded into the child sex abuse scandal of the Catholic church with a sculpture of a priest with his face obscured called Cardinal Sin.

The graffiti artist's piece is a replica of an 18th-century stone bust, which has had its face sawn off and replaced with a mosaic of bathroom tiles to replicate the pixellation effect used on TV to prevent identification of victims of sex crimes.

Announcing his indefinite loan of the piece to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, Banksy strongly implied that Cardinal Sin is a comment on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.

Describing the statue as a Christmas present, the artist said in a statement: "At this time of year it's easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity – the lies, the corruption, the abuse."

The bust went on public display for the first time on Thursday in the Walker's 17th Century Old Masters gallery, alongside works by old masters including Van Dyck and Poussin.

Reyahn King, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool, said the Walker was "thrilled" to display the work of a "major contemporary artist".

"It's a huge coup and we are sure his work will spark a reaction with visitors.

"Banksy specified that it be shown alongside our period collection and we were very happy to oblige."

Bumped for the purpose of comparison with his Moscow doppelganger.

Are they one and the same?

How do you write a biography of an artist whose trademark signature is an elusive anonymity? I'll soon find out:
***************************************************************************************************************


SYNOPSIS (from the Waterstone's website):

Synopsis

For someone who shuns the limelight by concealing his real name, never showing his face and never giving interviews except by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. In his home town of Bristol, in Los Angeles, in London, in New York, where there is a Banksy exhibition there is always a queue - often three hours long. His book of his art, Wall and Piece, has sold over a quarter of a million copies. Such is the commercial value of his work that people have hacked an entire wall off a building because it bears some of his graffiti. His popularity is such that councils who in the past saw him as a vandal whose work should be washed off the streets now hurry to protect it. But who is this man; how did he become what he is now; what makes him tick? How far can we get to know and understand someone who goes to such lengths to keep his distance from us? Now, in first ever biography of Banksy, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together Banksy's life and builds up a picture of the world in which he operates. He talks to both his friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early un-noticed days and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his new-found fame and fortune, and asks what, ultimately, this enigmatic character and his life's work add up to.

^

I've finished this.

The central dilemma facing Banksy today is the contradiction between the "outlaw" status from which his reputation initially derived and the fact that his work can now command large sums in the very Art market he so despised in the early stages of his career that he illicitly "hung" his own satirical work on the walls of 'Establishment' galleries.

Banksy comes over as a genuine person, well aware of this contradiction, and doing his best to circumvent the worst aspects of this dilemma.

pinhedz wrote:The dilemma faced by the authorities was that it was an unauthorized act--possibly even criminal--but they liked the painting, and were considering leaving it.

At the start of his career, a street Banksy would be routinely erased by a team from the local council cleansing department.

These days, the same Banksy is more likely to be sheeted in perspex in order to preserve it.

Some individuals have gone so far as to physically REMOVE THE WALL on which the Banksy appears because they know the artwork might be worth a lot of money.

To counteract this opportunististic trend, Banksy's team have their own authentification department (known as "Pest Control") which will refuse to issue a certficate of authenticity (consisting- nice touch- of a 'forged' £5 note displaying Princess Diana's head instead of the Queen's- without which no reputable gallery can or will sell the artwork.

So, how good an artist is Banksy?

The Art "Establishment" critics are sniffy about his work because it's popular: i.e. witty but quite easily comprehended.

I like it. Nothing wrong with "popular". Nothing right with "obscure and obscurantist for the sake of it".