Banksy graffitting all over the place should not be celebrated

[bitesthedust]

That is it really

If it was treated as a piece of street art, ok then, but now the policy and local authorities are protecting it, has it gone a bit too far?

The thing with art, is it's personal taste, I love a bit of Constable or Pre-Raphaelite or Hogarth, but wait for it....I can't stand Picasso or Kandinsky, I don't doubt some would say I'm totally uneducated if I don't like some of the masters like Vangogh or get this for sacrilege I don't particularly like Monet😲, I know I'm tots unsophisticated! When I look at art, or hear a piece of music, I want it to make my soul sing, I want it to give me joy, or lift me out of the doldrums. If it doesn't talk to me, or makes me scratch my head thinking wtf, I'm not interested.
And therein lies the problem with Banksy and the arts in general, one persons soul flying 'wow, love it', is another person's soul destroying 'dear me, is that what passes for art these days, urgh'. It's great that we all enjoy and like different things, wouldn't the world be boring if we were all the same?!

Absolutely!

Also sad that give peas a chance has gone

I was initially more worried I needed to start building my own Ark.

I thought it might be a commentary on climate change and flooding. That would be RIGHT up his (or her) street.

I love graffiti and street art. I love a mural. I love a pasted picture or poster.

I love to visit and wander around places in cities and find cool stuff that makes me smile.

For me, it brightens up a dreary world. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I find street art a really difficult concept!

I hate graffiti and street art. I hate the way it permanently defaces lovely brick, wood and stone surfaces (yes, you can paint over it, but actually removing it is an expensive nightmare and it will return the next night, most likely). I think street art is an imposition, undemocratic and usually very ugly (though that's a subjective view). If you don't like an artist's work it's not usually a problem - just don't go to the exhibition and don't put it on your wall - sorted. But street art is horribly, crudely, aggressively and garishly there, whether we want it or not. I loathe it.

Banksy...I really like his stuff! But I can't reconcile my liking for Banksy's work with what I say above. I can't make a logical case, I admit. I suppose you could say that Banksy is understated, spare and subtle - not garish.

I also like Northern Irish murals - the ones that both Catholics and Protestants painted on the ends of houses. They have become accepted as an historical and cultural phenomenon. But they're not subtle or understated, so my attempt to be consistent falls again.

Still hate 99% of 'street art' though.

I love a bit of Constable or Pre-Raphaelite or Hogarth, but wait for it....I can't stand Picasso or Kandinsky

I'm not that bothered about Turner.

I think street art is like any other - some I like, some I don't. They've commissioned some murals round here, which I like, but I wouldn't want every piece of street art round here to be by the same person. That would get dull.

Of course it doesn't, have you tried doing it yourself to confirm your viewpoint?

YANBU OP.
He's a vandal like the others. And many unknowns have produced better work on my local streets 🥱

I agree with this, the pelicans etc are very basic. The rhino is quite accomplished though.

For a long time, I wondered about some graffiti near where I lived that proclaimed to the world that "McKIRCHER IS A BOZO".

Years later, I met someone who worked with the person who did it. McKircher was one of their colleagues and he was, indeed, a bozo. It was strangely satisfying to know this, for some reason.

Have you tried to stencil in the way he does? Have you enlightened Sothebys that his work does not constitute art? 😅 Please let us know what they say.

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/oct/14/banksy-auction-record-shredded-painting-love-is-in-the-bin

"graffitying all over the place" 😁😁😁

Yes he is my third cousin, twice removed by marriage to my mum's half sister. He is not my 'hero', I simply find your comments to be miserable, ignorant and reductive.

We have an 'only God can judge me' 🙄🤣

Haha

Did you see Yoko Ono’s exihibition at the Tate

An empty ‘fart jar’ alongside a photo of her glutes…

An empty jar with an invisible smile…

It did make me laugh though

But at least she was inside a gallery and didn’t cause visual pollution

You're a bit of a fun sponge, OP. The swinging monkeys in particular made me smile.

Life is pretty relentlessly grim these days with the wars, riots, stabbings, COL crisis, climate change etc etc. A few spray painted wolves or fish to brighten the street are all to the good.

Are we supposed to believe he just broke into London Zoo and did his thing without any knowledge from the administrators?

I drove an hour out of my way today to see one. It's fab. Loads of people there looking and enjoying it.

I didn’t use to give much thought and thought the controversial pieces where somewhat interesting alongside the mistery of his persona, but now that I’m working for a local authority and see how blood hard it is to use the tax payers’ money for much needed works and services and now that I’m a bit more into politics, I matured my point of view

Also, if it is not ok for a regular person to graffitti it shouldn’t be ok for him either

He could make his point in some other way, it seems like he is not evolving as an artist tbh

I never post here for validation

It is not about the quality of his work

It is about - to use a fashionable term atm - what appears to be a ‘two tier police’

and the public resource spent on him

And King Robbo (RIP)

God, what a load of absolute miseries on this thread... I don't think I'll come back. It's too depressing.

I can never understand, how he hasn't been unmasked yet with the amount of cameras etc.