BANKSY. GENIUS OR VANDAL?

BANKSY IS ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN AND MOST CONTROVERSIAL ARTISTS ON THE CONTEMPORARY SCENE. HE HAS BEEN SHROUDED IN MYSTERY FROM THE START AND, BY EITHER CHOICE OR NECESSITY, HAS PERPETUATED THIS TO THE POINT OF BECOMING A MODERN MYTHICAL FIGURE.
 
BANKSY IS AMBIGUOUS, YET DEEPLY ROOTED IN URBAN REALITY, SPEAKING TO WORLDWIDE PROBLEMS, HYPOCRISIES, AND CURRENT EVENTS WITH A LANGUAGE THAT IS BOTH SIMPLE AND IRONIC. HE CONTINUALLY INVITES AND CHALLENGES US TO REFLECT ON EMERGENT ISSUES AND ADDRESS THEM HEAD ON. THE SUBJECTS BANKSY FEATURES VIA HIS PROVOCATIVELY IRREVERENT AND SATIRICAL MESSAGING INCLUDE: POLITICS, CULTURE, ETHICS, AND WAR.
 
BANKSY ALWAYS PORTRAYS A SET OF RECURRING CHARACTERS, SUCH AS MONKEYS, RATS, POLICEMEN, AND MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY – ALL OF WHICH HE REPRESENTS USING THE STENCIL TECHNIQUE. BANKSY INITIALLY ADOPTED THIS METHOD AS A WAY OF ACTING QUICKLY TO AVOID BEING CAUGHT BY THE POLICE. OVER TIME, THIS TECHNIQUE HAS ALSO ENABLED HIM TO PUT FORTH MESSAGES THAT ARE IMPACTFUL YET SIMPLE AND IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE – ALLOWING, IN TURN, FOR COUNTLESS REPRODUCTIONS OF HIS ICONIC WORKS.
 
BANKSY’S VISUAL PROTESTS (WHICH HAVE REACHED A VAST AND DIVERSE AUDIENCE) HAVE TURNED HIM INTO ONE OF THE WORLD'S BETTER-KNOWN ARTISTS AND ONE OF THE PREFERRED CREATORS OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS. IF ART IS A SYNTHESIS OF FORM AND CONTENT, FOR BANKSY, WHAT REALLY COUNTS IS THE LATTER; HIS CREATIONS ARE MESSAGES ABOVE AND BEYOND SIMPLY AESTHETIC ART. AS EXPLAINED BY STREET ARTIST SHEPARD FAIREY: “HIS WORKS ARE FULL OF METAPHORS THAT TRANSCEND LANGUAGE BARRIERS. THE IMAGES ARE ENTERTAINING AND WITTY, AND YET SO SIMPLE AND ACCESSIBLE: EVEN SIX-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WHO HAVE NO CONCEPT OF CULTURAL CONFLICT, HAVE NO PROBLEM SEEING THAT THERE IS SOMETHING NOT QUITE RIGHT WHEN THEY SEE THE MONA LISA WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER.”
 
BANKSY’S ART IS DERIVED FROM THE SO-CALLED “WRITERS” WHO DOMINATED NEW YORK CITY’S 1970S STREET ART SCENE. THESE “WRITERS”, THEN KNOWN AS GRAFFITI ARTISTS, CAME OUT OF THE PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD OF HARLEM, THE BRONX’S PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY, AND A SMALL ITALIAN HAMLET IN MANHATTAN’S LOWER EAST SIDE. THESE YOUTHS WORKED TOGETHER IN GROUPS AND SET-UP “SCHOOLS”, WHICH WERE CLEARLY AN ARTISTIC DERIVATION OF THE 1950S STREET GANGS.
 
THE SCHOOLS STRIVED TO STANDARDIZE THEIR INDIVIDUAL STYLES AS A WAY OF INDICATING BELONGING AMONGST THEIR RESPECTIVE MEMBERS AND ESTABLISHING GROUP IDENTITY. GRAFFITI WAS HISTORICALLY A TOUGH ART, ALWAYS REQUIRING THE CREATOR TO WORK AGAINST POWERFUL OPPONENTS LIKE POP CULTURE, SOCIETAL NORMS, ENVIRONMENTAL ELEMENTS, AND THE LAW.
 
BANKSY'S TIES TO THOSE GRAFFITI ARTISTS COMES FROM HIS STRONG FEELING OF BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY, WHILE HIS PROVOCATIVE ATTITUDE AND FOCUS ON EVER-CHANGING CURRENT EVENTS SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT WORKS OF ART SHOULD BE DRIVEN BY COUNTERCULTURAL NOTIONS AND FINISHED WITH HASTE IN A PARTICULAR SPACE AND TIME. “I LOVE GRAFFITI. I LOVE THAT WORD,” BANKSY HAS WRITTEN. “FOR ME, GRAFFITI IS SYNONYMOUS WITH MARVEL. IN COMPARISON, ANY OTHER ARTISTIC GENRE IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, A STEP BACKWARDS. IF YOU WORK OUTSIDE OF THIS WORLD, YOU ARE WORKING ON A LOWER LEVEL. OTHER ART HAS LESS TO OFFER, IT HAS LESS MEANING AND IS WEAKER.”
 
THE REBEL VOCATION OF WRITERS AND SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS HAS BEEN GRADUALLY LOST OVER THE DECADES: STREET ARTISTS OF TODAY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE STUDIED; THEY COME OUT OF ACADEMIES AND ART SCHOOLS, AND THEIR WORK QUITE FREQUENTLY DEMONSTRATES EXTRAORDINARY PAINTING TECHNIQUE THAT IS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SEE WITH WORKS ON CANVAS. THIS IS WHY ONE OF BANKSY'S MISSIONS IS TO REVIVE THE SPIRIT OF TRADITIONAL GRAFFITI VIA THE CONTENT AND MESSAGES OF HIS WORK.
 
APART FROM THE INFLUENCES OF GRAFFITI CULTURE AND HIP HOP, WE ALSO SEE IN BANKSY’S WORK THE STRONGLY AGGRESSIVE, UNDERGROUND ATTITUDE OF PUNK WITH ITS ANTI-INTELLECTUAL CONNOTATIONS AND SUBCULTURE, REFERENCING A WORLD OF “MINOR PLAYERS” AND “BEAUTIFUL LOSERS”. HISTORY IS “NOT MADE BY GREAT MEN,” SANG PUNK BAND GANG OF FOUR. THE PUNK MOVEMENT GAVE RISE TO VISUAL PROTEST CODES THAT HAD WORLDWIDE IMPACT. THE LEGACY OF PUNK IS VAST, AND ITS GRAPHIC CODES SYMBOLIZE STRUGGLE AND RESISTANCE, TO WHICH MIGHT BE ADDED A COMPLEX, SUBCULTURAL VISUAL VOCABULARY OF A DEEPLY ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN BENT (TO WHICH BANKSY IS FULLY BOUND). “LIKE MOST PEOPLE, I HAVE A FANTASY THAT ALL THE LITTLE POWERLESS LOSERS WILL GANG UP TOGETHER. THAT ALL THE VERMIN WILL GET SOME GOOD EQUIPMENT AND THEN THE UNDERGROUND WILL GO OVERGROUND AND TEAR THIS CITY APART.”
 
IN OUR EXHIBITION, WE NOT ONLY EXPLORE BANKSY’S CONNECTIONS TO UNDERGROUND MOVEMENTS LIKE GRAFFITI, HIP HOP, AND PUNK, BUT ALSO TRY TO LOOK DEEPER INTO HIS TIES TO ART FORMS EMBRACED BY THE ESTABLISHMENT SUCH AS WARHOL'S POP ART. WE ARE TRYING TO SHOW THAT THE BANKSY PHENOMENON DID NOT ARISE FROM SCRATCH; IT ABSORBED THE WORLD'S CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC HERITAGE IN COMBINATION WITH UP-TO-THE-MINUTE NEWS, ENGLISH HUMOR AND SARCASM, AND AN IDEAL MARKETING PITCH. ALL THIS MAKES BANKSY, WITHOUT DOUBT, THE LEADING ARTIST OF OUR TIME.