BANKSY – The Greatest artist…

{ Banksy Gallery with pictures of some of his works is at the bottom of this post }

So, I find myself chilling at home this afternoon, and with some time to burn (still no money to burn, though), I decided to write a post about an artist I admire a lot, BANKSY.

BANKSY is the pseudonym of a popular artist who paints his works on walls(some call him a graffiti artist). He has done numerous works, which get some mention on the news when new ones are spotted. He’s believed to be from England, and the Wikipedia article on him says he was born in 1973, and probably started his graffiti ‘career’ in about 1993 in Bristol, England.

There are many great artists in the world, and there we like different artists for different reasons.
We also admire them in different ways. Like…I love Leonardo Da Vinci for a different reason I like Marc Ecko (yes, he’s an artist too). I think that’s because each artist creates what HIS/HER idea of beauty is, and it seems to satisfy different parts in all of us. I also like.

Some reasons why Banksy is a great artist:

1. VARIETY - His works are always spicy. He covers different thing from the Queen of England to rats running their own red-carpet restaurant. He doesn’t just do funky variations of one thing (I think of Degas’ painting nuuuummerous paintings of Ballerinas).

Here are the Rats (that feature in several of his works)…

The REAL Burger King…

(this pic above is in his book, Wall and Piece)

2. It’s not done totally for the PRAISE – Think about it. He uses a pseudonym, and because of the variety of controversial works he’s painted, he can’t come out and say “Hey Guys! Guys!!! I’m the one who’s been doing all this graffiti since 1993! Gimme Praise!”. Cause of that, I give him a lot of respect. It’s not easy to see your works reproduced, criticized, talked about on international TV, imitated – and still do your thing. I somehow see that to mean that he’s in for the love of the art, and for no other reasons.

3. GOOD MESSAGE (at least to me) – Banksy has been called ‘anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-capitalist’ and a bunch of other titles. Well, his anti-ness is one side. the other side of that same coin is that he is pro-people. Pro-peoples freedoms and liberties. People need to simply realize that it’s the same government and companies that have made us pay for our lives and the very air we breathe. A LOT of human values, lives, and general peace of mind have been destroyed because of these governments, establishments, religions, and companies. If you think I’m wrong, then you have some illumination awaiting you – if you choose to do your own research. Banksy recognizes this, and that’s why he can make such simple and smart works – and hint at the human cost of these establishments.

(for those who don’t know, Tesco is a giant chain of stores in England)

You understand this…

3. MORALS – Banksy has taught ME to stand up for what I believe in. He is spreading his message – peace, justice and freedom – courageously, despite all the anti-graffiti laws, law enforcement and surveillance in the world these days. The morality is also great -it’s not in YO’ FACE. It’s the message you get after thinking about the work and it’s meaning. Not bad.

Don’t cheat next time…but hang on, bro…

4. COURAGE – His works are done right under our noses(as well as right under the cameras. He’s done works in England, Italy, Brooklyn, several other places, and recently New Orleans. Graffiti is illegal in most, if not all these places, but yet he still manages to do it. He might have gotten arrested before – we don’t know. He still persists.

He  painted the Israel-Palestine wall (above), unknowingly at the risk of getting sniped down.
(see dialogue below) *from his book*

Guide: You could paint here – there are no guards in the watch towers. They do not come until the winter.

Banksy: (Returning to the car after painting for 25 minutes) Whats so funny?

Guide: (Laughing hysterically) Of course the guards are in the towers they have the snipers with the walkie-talkies.

5. CREATIVITY – After looking as several of his works, I can’t help but marvel and smile at his creativity. He plays with so many concepts in new ways. His style stays quite the same (stencil, spraypaint), but he is quite creative with his content (which is the most important).

This one above was done in Naples, Italy

6. Last Reason : HE INSPIRES : Banksy, even though categorized as a graffiti artist, inspires many people(including other artists). That’s probably the greatest any artist can hope for – to inspire people. I’ve met a few artists, and seen some online who list Banksy as a great inspiration to them. And most of them aren’t even graffiti artists.

Banksy in New Orleans…

Recently, he’s done some works in New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina. I don’t have a good time estimate of when they were done, but maybe you do…

Sadly, a few of these images were lifted from his book, Wall and Piece. which I’d recommend you buy if you like any of the works you see in this post. This is the cover of the book below…

Below are some pages from the his book…

“It takes a lot of guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom”

It’s a great book. One that will entertain you even months after you get it.
Plus, your girlfriend might really dig it that you’re into this artist…

Oh, and if you’d like to see a growing collection of Banksy pics, on Flickr check out
http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/

But you’ll always want the final word from the man himself…
http://banksy.co.uk

“They key to making great art is all in the composition”

Much love to Banksy, and more grease to his elbows.
May he keep doing adding to his great work- it’s already a legacy.
I admire him as much as I admire any person who I think is great.