Throughout multiple millennia, art has gone through a plethora of stages — baroque, medieval, impressionism, realism and my personal favorites, abstract expressionism and pop art. Unlike most, I’m not exactly in love with Van Gogh and da Vinci. I have looked up to Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein for ages, and my love for comic art and expressionistic art is rather substantial. Although I do love these fantastic artists and innovators, I am here to talk about someone who has seriously defined what modern art is — and who, for the past 20 or so years, has also eluded society.
Banksy. It’s a name heard all over the world, and if you haven’t heard of him yet, you would probably recognize his extremely unique concept art. He is a friend of social activism yet an enemy to police officers and people who think his art is offensive and inappropriate for public viewing. He is an artist based in England whose art is reminiscent of that of Blek le Rat, the king and father of stencil graffiti, who was painting at least a decade before Banksy began his own art movement.
Although I use the "he" pronoun, we don’t know who Banksy truly is. He has been speculated to be multiple artists, a woman or no one at all. His invisibility to society is truly fascinating. How can one (or multiple) person(s) be able to baffle police and investigators, all the while making change in the world? Hopefully after reading this article, your eyes will be opened to a lot of the social, economic and environmental issues the world faces yet sometimes overlooks.
Here are five works of Banksy that will make you rethink the concept of “graffiti." (Note: These are not the actual names of the works)
1. Graffiti painting of a painter painting over graffiti
This art found in London near the Regent’s Canal is one of Banksy’s more popular pieces that expresses how society treats graffiti. Today, many people believe graffiti should not be considered an art form. Personally, I believe graffiti to be a modern art movement that should be admired rather than hated. Painting is hard enough; imagine using spray paint and other unconventional paints on an uneven and unclear surface!
2. No trespassing on American land please
A Native American man sitting and holding a sign that says, “No Trespassing." This piece, found in San Francisco, is unsettling and describes the misfortunes that befell the native tribes in America when the Spaniards came in the 1600s. It exhibits how modern society has isolated the original “Americans” from their homelands.
3. I solemnly swear that global warming does not exist.
This simple yet exceedingly thoughtful exposition is also found near Regent’s Canal in London. It’s one of my personal favorite blurbs from Banksy, and I can never get over how powerful these six words can be. With well placement just along a bank, its irony is subtle and portrays how haunting global warming can be.
4. Maid to sweep our problems away
This art piece found in London can take on many interpretations. The most obvious one is simple — it’s a maid sweeping dirt away. The clever use of the wall and brick makes it seem three-dimensional and very unique. However, some idealistic people, and myself included, speculate that this piece is a metaphor for American foreign policy in the Middle East and Africa. Through surfing the Web, I read an article talking about how this detail of "sweeping" is an analogy for America ignoring the problems of AIDS and other infectious diseases affecting third world countries. Again, this can be interpreted in many ways. Its meaning is in the eye of the beholder!
5. Snowden? Yes, it is I.
If you are as interested in government conspiracies and affairs as I am, this work of art will make you think about technology on a whole new level. This intense piece was painted on a wall near GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) in England. If you don’t know what GCHQ is, it’s basically one of England’s headquarters for intelligence and communication. This art piece is very loud, and comments on how governments can borderline infringe upon the rights of their people through wiretapping and other miscellaneous ways. It’s doting, eerie and eye-opening.
