Graffiti Art, Mural Art and Banksy - Essay Example

? Graffiti and Murals: Focus on Banksy – A Study in Perspective Graffiti is experiencing a new high because of the coming of age of one infamous, anonymous graffiti artist under the pseudo name Banksy, whose works have been fetching astounding prices, and are being sought by art patrons and celebrities alike. Banksy has made it possible to lead graffiti into mainstream art. How was he able to accomplish this where others before him failed? Has graffiti really have arrived in the big league, or is Banksy just a stroke of chance and good luck? Is graffiti the new art? To answer these questions, one has to delve deeper into his art, his over-all working environment, and discover his techniques on how he was able to stand out on top of the rest. Banksy, as a graffiti artist, is one comprehensive, amazing study in perspective. A Brief Run-down on Graffiti and Murals: How are they Different from Each Other? Graffiti and murals are the same in the sense that both are graphical drawings, illustrations, paintings, or visual representations executed on walls, ceilings or blank surfaces of buildings or structures. However, the similarities stop here. Murals are normally paintings commissioned by a person or an entity to be done on walls or ceilings of private properties, while graffiti are done haphazardly, or in a hit-and-run fashion, on public places like underground railway stations, bus stops, public toilets, public buildings, etc. and are generally considered not works of art, but rather as plain and simple vandalism, or illegal defacement of property. Because of this illegal nature of graffiti, artists usually do their stuff in a clandestine manner, and they have to be fast enough to escape notice and elude arrest by lawmen. The aerosol paint spray is their favorite medium, which enable them to do their work faster. Graffiti artists usually incorporate revolutionary messages in their works, or the works themselves are usually statements and subversions to existing political and socio-economic set-ups. Messages conveyed maybe anti-capitalism, anti-war, anti-fascism, anti-government, or other anti-conventions and other beliefs, mostly leftist and radical, perceived by the subverts to be going against socially acceptable behavior and decorum. As such, graffiti artists are considered activists, and graffiti are just their outlets for making their statements and sentiments known to the public. Graffiti is said to be street offshoots of murals, and are commonly called urban or street art, or street subversions. Majority of graffiti are only tagging, where only words or messages are inscribed, shouting to the public the artist’s pent-up emotions and discontentment, and are executed on walls of areas where heavy, constant human traffic is present like underground subway stations, earning graffiti another name, underground art. Underground, which refer to its under-the-surface location, and underground, which pertains to the very nature of its being illegal. Its legal counterpart, murals, has historical and artistic value and has existed since time immemorial. There have been discoveries of pre-historic paintings and carvings in caves, and in tombs of ancient royalties commemorating their lives and their reign. In Europe, old churches sport magnificent frescoes which are believed to date as far back as the 15th century. It was only in the 1920s, when murals began to be commissioned for public buildings in Mexico, that murals became public, and have become outlets for socio-economic realism and community concerns. Three leading Mexican muralists namely Diego Rivera, David Alfonso Siquieros and Jose Clemente Orosco, popularly and collectively called “Los Tres Grandes” or The Three Greats have been credited with greatly influencing the works of other muralists in the Mission District, San Francisco Area, the central hub of Latinos doing graffiti works (Drescher). Graffiti became the underground vogue during the hip-hop generations of the 80s and the 90s, although graffiti artists’ tagging deeds have been prevalent through urban America as early as the 1960s, and way back in the 1930s in urban Mexico (LenKody). Graffiti is generally believed to have no artistic and aesthetic value, and most states have strict laws in dealing with them. Most graffiti are found in slums and impoverished areas, and they have become the voiced-out sentiments of the poor and the under-privileged. Some graffiti artists have been noticed for their works, some for their relentlessness, and some have created great impacts too hard to ignore, among whom are Blek le Rat, Frida Kahlo, etc., and the most infamous of all, the prominent yet invisible Banksy. Banksy has successfully integrated graffiti art to the mainstream art world, and has done what Jean-Michael Basquiat and Keith Harring did in New York City many decades ago, and presumably, has surpassed the two in these present times (Altman). Banksy: The Anonymous, Big Man of Graffiti Banksy is just a pseudonym, and many believe that his real name is Robert or Robin Banks, born sometime in 1974, or 1978 in Bristol, England. His father is said to be a photocopier technician, or a delivery driver or hospital worker, or a butcher. When he was growing up, he was reportedly trained to be a butcher. Almost nothing is known of his personal life, and until now, his true identity is still shrouded in secrecy, adding to his mystique and enigma, which may be one reason why patrons continue to thirst for his works. Other people who have met him described him to be simply wearing just t-shirt, shorts and sneakers; one account told him to be splattered with white paint, while another one bespoke of him full of grime and dirt. None of these allegations were confirmed, and as usual, immediate denials were issued. The nearest accuracy to his identity was that he is actually Robin Gunningham, where he was photographed while doing some work for an exhibition in Jamaica sometime in 2004. It is also an accepted norm in the art and media world to assume an alias or a pseudo name, to protect oneself from prosecution and associated risks when tackling subjects or coming out with outputs which are deemed controversial, scandalous, libelous, etc., and the same holds true for graffiti artists, who are always on the run from the law. But unknown artists usually come out when accolades start pouring in. But not Banksy. His works are everywhere. But he is nowhere in sight. He continues to be the invisible man of graffiti. Though Banksy is anonymous in terms of his personal identity, he is big in the world of graffiti: he has revolutionized graffiti, bringing the art (?) to such new heights that his works are being bought at such premium prices by art collectors and celebrities alike like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Christina Aguillera, etc. His works are being hosted by premiere art dealers and art galleries from Britain to the US, Europe, and other parts of the world. Astonishing really, if one will consider that Banksy is not considered a mainstream artist, but rather a graffiti artist, with subjects ranging from the political to the funny, and sometimes to the bizarre. Like most graffiti artists, Banksy began his graffiti on trains and underground stations, to walls all around Bristol, England sometime in 1993, and by 2001, he had spread out his works throughout England, and on to Vienna, USA (particularly San Francisco and Los Angeles), Paris, Barcelona, Jamaica, Israel, etc. Banksy as a graffiti artist concentrated on stencil painting, which enabled him to do his works faster and thereby escape scrutiny. Some of his stenciled works are so detailed they seem to be paintings; many surmised that he is using digital technology to aid him in his cut-outs. He is not the only one who did stencil graffiti but others before him were likewise into stencil painting like Blek le Rat, who started his stencil work in the early 1980s, in Paris, and the band members of Crass, who have been into stencil graffiti doing the London Tube system in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reportedly up until today. Banksy’s Works- Are they Graffiti or Mainstream Works? Banksy showed inclinations to such subjects as animals, particularly rats, pigs, apes, chimps, and even elephants; people like policemen, soldiers, children, the elderly, and to top it all, celebrities and icons. He is known to be a spoofer and a prankster. In fact, his most famous works are spoofs of celebrities and famous personalities. In animals, rats are a favorite subject. His rat masterpieces include a taxidermy rat with a miniature can of spray paint which he installed at the National History Museum; a “gangster rat” painted on a wall near the Smithfield market with a sign “Welcome to All” while wearing a peace sign medallion; another rat pleads “Please Love Me”. His exhibit “Crude Oils” in a Nottinghill gallery showed numerous renditions of rats in various representations, and these he coupled with the unleashing of 200 live rats to freely roam around during the exhibit. His most famous street works are black and white stencil renditions of rats, most of them slightly larger than life-size. In an earlier exhibition, in 2003, titled “Turf Wars” which attracted the attention of the London Art world, he featured live pigs and spray painted a heifer (young cow) like Andy Warhol. He drew the ire of animal activists on this stunt. It is also in this exhibit where he depicted Queen Elizabeth II as a chimp. In the “Barely Legal” exhibition held in Los Angeles on Sept. 15-17, 2006, Banksy painted an 8,000 lbs. elephant named Tai with red and gold fleur-de-lis, designed after a wallpaper pattern, with the live elephant accordingly symbolizing global poverty (Duncan). Animal rights groups were aghast, and the elephant was immediately hosed down. He also spoofed Mother Theresa in this exhibit which critics found to be in bad taste. Because of these insane stunts, numerous newspapers including the LA Times and Al Jazeera reported on such controversies and immediately, huge throngs of people showed up, approximately 30,000 people lined up, waited five blocks long to view his exhibition. Celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Jude Law previewed the exhibit before its formal opening and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reportedly bought several pieces. For all his eccentricities and popularity (or notoriety), his works continue to fetch premium prices, sometimes surpassing even the well-established masters: his Space and Bird, a spray painting on steel, sold for a mind-boggling $575,000 at an auction by Bonham’s in April, 2007; Bombing Middle England (Bombing- slang for writing graffiti), a canvas featuring three retirees playing with live shells, sold for a staggering $200,000 at Sotheby’s; a Mona Lisa painting with paint dripping from her eyes sold for L57,600.00; Queen Victoria depicted as a lesbian reportedly bought by celebrity Christina Aguillera for L25,000 together with two other prints. Kate Moss silk-screen prints spoofed as Marilyn Monroe pictures sold for five times their estimated value. His other art works, sold by Sotheby’s London, also commanded top prices: Balloon Girl sold at L37,200.; Bomb Hugger, at L131,200; Ballerina with Action Man Parts, L96,000; Glory at L72,000; Untitled (2004) at L33,600; plus many more Banksy works which sold at twice up to five times their estimated values (Collins). Other works by Banksy continue to dominate England’s structures. A Nude Man Hanging by his Fingertips (while a Man surveys the horizon in a window) was situated right opposite the Bristol City council; it was retained by virtue of a public popular vote held among one thousand respondents, where ninety three percent opted for its preservation. Another Banksy work, based on the movie Pulp Fiction, depicting actors John Travolta and Samuel Jackson holding bananas instead of guns, was whitewashed by London authorities. Banksy also made Stonehenge out of portable toilets. Other works include military helicopter crowned with a pink bow; two policemen kissing; Winston Churchill with a Mohawk; Child-Angel with a Skull; and so many more. In one instance, a house in Easton, England which has a Banksy mural painted on one side of its wall, owned by David and Sarah Anslow, was advertised with the Banksy mural as the come on, priced at $400,000, with the structure thrown in “for free” (Collins). Many of his other street works have been painted over by government cleaning personnel and even by co-graffiti artists. As to the veracity of his graffiti being art or just products of media hype, only time will tell, as true masters of the arts will endure the test of time through generations. A Banksy In-Depth Analysis: A Study in Contradictions and Banksy Strategies Banksy’s works convey all the anti-conventions he can muster, but at the same time he consciously or unconsciously contradicts himself most of the time. He is anti-capitalism, but he is known to do works for big corporations for hefty fees, sometimes charging 25,000 pounds for canvasses. Some reports have recounted how he had done works for charitable organizations at a price, though this is unconfirmed. He professes to be anti-war, but during a peace demonstration in London in 2003, he reportedly distributed materials with the message: “I don’t believe in anything. I’m just here for the violence.” (Collins). He once said: Every other type of art compared to graffiti is a step down”, yet he continues to produce works on canvas and paper, suitable for indoor display (Collins). He even contradicts his statements, saying “I have no interest in ever coming out; I figure there are enough self-opinionated assholes trying to get their ugly little faces in front of you” yet he constantly updates and posts news and video footages on his web site (Collins). With all his self-promotion, when his painting sold at such astronomical prices, like “Bombing Middle England” (which sold for $200,000) and Space Girl and Bird (at a whopping $575,000), he immediately posted a painting on his website depicting an auctioneer presiding over a crowd of bidders with the admonition: “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.” Critics contend as to why he has to advertise his works when he insults people who buy them. If Banksy did not offer something new to graffiti, how did he rise to such prominence that his works can fetch astounding prices, and be hosted by art galleries like the traditional, established artists before him? What set him apart from the rest? Critics and patrons alike believe that his mystery, his being anonymous, his being incognito, his hit-and-run guerilla style all the more drew people to his enigmatic persona. His graffiti themes ran from the politically revolutionary to the downright funny and satirical, insulting, bizarre. The popularity and marketability of Banksy, if analyzed closely, did not come by chance, though one can say that luck has always something to do with man’s good fortune. Banksy is actually an excellent marketing man and a brilliant, clever strategist, and no other artist in history can match his marketing savvy: He was anonymous and enigmatic, while all others are not. Up until now, he continued to maintain his mystique, not coming out in the open to even claim his award. Many believed this was a great come-on for his works. In graffiti, he concentrated on one medium, stenciling, and perfected it, while others retain their simple paint and tag techniques. He tried to put more detail into his stencils, to make his works stand out from the rest. Aside from graffiti, he progressed into oil paintings and canvasses. While most graffiti artists continue to work on streets and subways, he progressed to more appropriate locations, particularly targeting museum sites to get noticed. If he cannot paint on walls, he then devised his own prop-up materials. He has hung his works in museums like the London’s Tate Modern Museum, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, etc. No other graffiti artist had such zealousness to get his works as close as can be to these museums and art havens. Where the hottest news and events are, his works will most likely be seen: In 2005, he painted the perimeter fence of Bethlehem (Israel’s West Bank Barrier) with nine images, the most prominent of which is a hole revealing a beautiful beach on the other side, as if depicting paradise; another was a ladder going up over the wall of the barrier; as if insinuating an easy escape. During the third anniversary of hurricane Katrina sometime in late August, 2008, he commemorated it by painting buildings left derelict since Katrina. He also painted a hooded Ku Klux Klan member hanging from a noose in a petrol station in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, also in the same month, as hurricane Gustav came closer to the New Orleans area. He knows how to ride on the popularity of celebrities and famous people. Before his “Barely Legal” exhibit, to gain notice and publicity for his works, he spoofed Paris Hilton by coming out with fake cds with her digitally altered figure depicted as nude, with titles “Why Am I Famous?” and “What Am I For?” Another celebrity which he made use of was the late Princess Diana. Sometime in August, 2004, Banksy spoofed numerous 10 British pound notes by substituting the head of the Queen with the head of Princess Diana, and substituted Bank of England with Banksy of England, and distributed these to people at the Notting Hill carnival, where some actually attempted to use them in local stores. These notes would later sell on eBay at $200 each. Queen Elizabeth II was also depicted as a chimp in one of his exhibits, “Turf Wars”, held in 2003, and attended by London’s art community. During his exhibit “Barely Legal” in Los Angeles in Sept. 15-17, 2006, Banksy exhibited a portrait of Mother Theresa with the words: “I learnt a valuable lesson from this woman. Moisturize every day.” (Collins). He also used the stars from Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp fiction, Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta to gain mileage by depicting them as holding bananas instead of guns, another effective spoof. He did model Kate Moss on silk screen prints, in the style of Andy Warhol in Marilyn Monroe pictures. Queen Victoria was likewise painted by Banksy as a lesbian. Banksy was able to incorporate into the mainstream the radical practices of older prankster-artists like Robert Heineken,,Keith Haring and the Guerilla Girls (Duncan). Banksy travelled extensively around the world to hold his exhibits, and leave his controversial mark whenever possible. Aside from his home turf England, he also held exhibits and/or painted walls in numerous parts of the U.S. particularly San Francisco and Los Angeles, Vienna, Israeli West Bank, Barcelona, Jamaica, etc. He also self-promoted himself, coming out with 4 books, never ever revealing his own true identity. He published his own books: the black and white Banging Your Head Against a Brick wall; Existencilism (in Color); Cut-It-Out, released in 2004. His fourth book, Wall and Piece, was published by Random House in 2005 (Brian Sewell Art Directory). Any purchase of his works by celebrities is given due media publication, which all the more adds to his portfolio. Celebrity clients really upped the value of his works. Banksy’s popularity and marketability is anchored on his being controversial, relevant, and by making himself interesting all the time by exhibiting out-of-the-box behavior, by self-contradicting himself at every opportunity, by seemingly behaving like a paranoid or mad man at the same time. He cannot afford to be boring, as most artists are. His eccentricity borders on controversy and paranoia. His popularity seemed to be in the same mold as that of the phenomenal entertainment icon Lady Gaga, with all her eccentricities. Not that he is untalented, He is really talented, but there are more graffiti artists who are as talented, or more talented than he is. Critics have contended that he just copied the style of Blek le Rat, and some even say that Blek le Rat is even better than he is. In fact, browsing through artists’ catalogues on-line will reveal other more beautiful and artful, more detailed graffiti works than Banksy’s. It is just so incidental that Banksy knows how to put his works in the right places, at the right time, and to make himself relevant all the time. As if his strategies were not enough, he made a film on graffiti, titled “Exit through the Gift Shop” which earned a nomination just this early 2011 for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, but was defeated by another entry Inside Job. Prior to the Oscars, Banksy scattered his works along the route of the award-giving body, with people speculating if he will finally show up and claim the prize if so ever he wins. The film was shown on British public TV station last Aug. 13, 2011. On top of this, he had made works along the line of show business like the opening couch gag for the 2010 Money Bart episode of The Simpsons; and the cover art of Blur’s Think Tank 2003 album. Banksy knows too how to play his cards well. Lest he be criticized for consumerism, which he so opposes, he appointed specific art dealers to handle the sale of his works. His dealer Stephen Lazarides, a photographer, acted as his business manager at the same time and always acted in his behalf for anything Banksy until May 2009, when they parted ways, and thereon appointed an uncanny entity named Pest Control, to handle all his succeeding works. His other dealers in the past included Andipa Gallery, Dreweatts, Bank Robber, etc. The Future of Banksy Banksy is not without his share of criticisms. He is being criticized for lack of originality, as he performs alteration works/spoofs on established classical works of art like Monet’s Water Lily Pond, the Mona Lisa (where he produced her with a yellow face, against a backdrop of police crime scene tape); Madonna and Child, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, etc. By altering and spoofing these classics, he is essentially vandalizing them, as critics have contended. His style of graffiti by stenciling is also considered a form of “cheating”, and this was raised by other graffiti artists, by his own colleagues in the field of graffiti. Some critics denounce him as a criminal, as graffiti is a crime, giving the environment an unsafe ambience, and costs the government plenty of money to clean up (Altman). Further, it is alleged that his popularity and marketability harbors on his anonymity, and for how long he can stay shrouded in secrecy, nobody knows. Will Banksy’s works increase in value through the years like the great masters? Critics doubt it, and they have reasons to be: lately, numerous councils and activist groups in England, particularly the Keep Britain Tidy, have declared his works to be just graffiti, and many of his works have been painted over, not just by council cleaners but also by co-artists who find his works simply rubbish. The Guardian satirist Charlie Brooker even wrote of Banksy’s works as “dazzlingly clever to idiots.” (Banksy -Wikipedia). Lately, there have been allegations that false bids were initiated online to up the price for his works, but as this may be possible, cannot be totally proven (“Probe…Banksy Prints”). Even then, Banksy is indeed lucky to have earned enough even if his curtain call may be or maybe not coming: another graffiti artist, the “Tox” man, Daniel Halpin, was already charged in court and may be facing a prison sentence plus some community work for, well, painting on walls (Osley and Amara). Works Cited: Altman, Alex. “Banksy Unmasked? A Graffiti Mystery”. Time Magazine 02 Nov 2007. Web. 28 Oct 2011. “Banksy”. Wikipedia. Web. 27 Oct 2011. Brian Sewell Art Directory. “Banksy”. Web. 28 Oct 2011. Collins, Lauren. “Banksy Was Here – The Invisible Man of Graffiti Art”. The New Yorker Magazine 14 May 2007. Web. 28 Oct 2011. Drescher, Timothy. “Street Subversion- the Political Geography of Murals and Graffiti”. Reclaiming San Francisco – History, Politics, Culture. Eds. Brook, James; Carlsson, Chris and Peters, Nancy. San Francisco: City Lights Books. Jan 1998: 231-245. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. Duncan, Michael. “Opening Salvos in LA”. Art in America. 94.10. Nov 2006:76-83 Academic Search Premiere (EBSCO). Web. 29 Oct 2011. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ccsf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=23071488&site=ehost-live Osley, Richard and Amara, Pavan. “Tale of Two Graffiti Artists- While Banksy Basks in Fame, Tagger Daniel ‘Tox’ Halpin Heads to Prison”. Camden New Journal. 16 June 2011. Web. 29 Oct 2011. “Probe Over Internet Auction Scam of Banksy Prints”. Western Daily Press. 26 Sept 2007 Academic Search Premiere (EBSCO). Web. 29 Oct 2011 .http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ccsf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=U32U3211604690&site=ehost-live Read More