In October 2018, moments after Banksy’s “Girl with Balloon” painting was sold for more than $1.3 million, the painting self-destructed in front of everybody at the auction. the frame of the art turned into a paper shredder leaving the painting haft shredded right after the auction hammer came down.
Soon after the artistic prank, Banksy’s Instagram account posted a picture of the shredded painting with the caption of “Going, going, gone…” and later a video of a few years back building a shredder into the painting in case it was ever sold in an auction with the caption of
"The urge to destroy is also a creative urge" - Picasso.
For those who don’t know who Banksy, Banksy is an anonymous British graffiti master, social activist, writer, and film director, active since the early ’90s. Banksy likes for his art to be visible to the larger public not to be hanged in a rich individual gallery. Banksy is someone who no longer sells photographs or reproduction of his street graffiti, but his work has regularly resold, some people even remove an entire wall to sell to his work.
I will like to present to you a small part of his work that I find interesting, enjoy!
In 2005, Banksy painted on the Palestinian side of the West Bank wall highlighting the oppressiveness of the barrier and he stated with humor. “The Israeli government is building a wall surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories. The wall is illegal under international law and essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison. It also makes it the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers.”
Barely legal was Banksy’s free exhibition in an industrial warehouse, Los Angeles, California in 2006 which celebrity like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attended remains a controversial event, part of the exhibition was a 37-year old Indian elephant which was painted to match the wallpaper of the room in which it was placed, and this caused critics from animal activist, but the paint he has been using was said non-toxic.
Banksy also made a film in 2010 which was called Exit Through the Gift Shop. The documentary was a collage of several hours of footage collected for almost a decade by Mr. Guetta and was about his obsession with filming the most renowned street artist including Banksy himself. The documentary grossed over $3 million at the box office and also got an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary and Banksy commented on this saying: “This is a big surprise. I don’t agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.”
Reference:
Documentary - Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art
Wikipedia
Questions:
1. Do you think Banksy's fame is because he is a better artist or more because of all the stories around him?
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general?
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
Comments
2. I really like his work, among others because graffiti is one of my favorite parts of the art. I have a few favorite murals in Poland and I love how people are able to blend them with the surroundings. Graffiti often appears in places like the West Bank, I think this is a good way to show opposition to ruling decisions.
3. I think that only he should get financial benefits from his work. Art is a very important element of our culture and it is difficult to value it. I wouldn't remove the wall of my house to get financial benefits from someone's work.
I think his fame is the result of the stories surrounding him and the ignorance of who he is. Of course, his works are good but I think there are a lot of people whose works are equally good and they aren’t famous. People love riddles, don't they?
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
I like his graffti very much, they give a lot to think about and are very pretty. When you look at it, you have the impression that they have always been there, because they fit perfectly in the given place. Graffi on the West Bank wall object to the authorities.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
I would never remove the wall from my own home just because of some graffiti unless the house was falling apart. I think that the fact that Banksy doesn’t want his works to be sold only increases the desire to sell them and increases the prices for them. We love to break bans so I'm not surprised that people sell his works so willingly.
2. I don't like that most common disgusting graffitis that are everywhere. But his work is not one of them. That kind of graffitis are some kind of art and it brings some value, both visual and esthetical. As for the West Bank I think it's a good way to communicate a resistence or objections to some actions.
3. I feel I would consider it but the transaction would be against his wishes as you mentioned. I think people will do everything for money and the fact he is not willing to let people sell his work freely just raises the work's price.
I don't know if he's the best artist. He surely comments and criticizes the surrounding reality with his art. Additionally, Banksy functions perfectly in commercial circulation and is one of the best-selling contemporary artists. Anksy creates works criticizing capitalism, based on the idea of pacifism, ridiculing power, system, consumerism, lack of empathy and our human malice. That's what critics say, I don't know anything about art.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
Banks appeared on the West Bank in 2005 and 2007 and painted 9 works. I have no idea what he wanted to tell us because his works are complicated and have many meanings. I think that each person individually perceives his art. and I feel like that's what the author meant.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
I wouldn't hesitate to sell such a painting. If it would give me a lot of money. This artist paints his paintings without permission and it's just vandalism.
1. I think both. He is definitely an artist shrouded in mystery, but people would quickly lose interest if he wasn’t creating something interesting and meaningful to others.
2. I do like his artworks and I support him ever since I saw his first artwork (is it possible it was around ten years ago, wow, how the time flies). Personally, I support all kinds of creative expressions of your personality and emotions. However, I don’t like graffitis, that are created to wreck stuff. I live close to Tor Służew and sometimes really amazing, beautiful artworks can be found there, but mostly there are Legia symbols, signatures and other ugly and boring artworks. When It comes to West Bank, in my opinion it is a good way to communicate objections to some actions and political situation.
3. Nah, I don’t think so. I like my house too much to simply destroy it. Maybe if I was considering renovation or moving out …
Second part of this question is a tough one. On one hand – when the artwork is yours, you should be able to do what you want with it. It’s none of my business, as an artist, what do you want to do with it. But on the other hand, if you are aware of the restrictions and rules, that artist has when it comes to selling his arts – I think it is inappropriate to sell it without taking his desire into account.
I think the latter one. Banksy is not a great artist, but he knows how to pursue niche topics and is great at marketning.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
I like well done graffiti and I think his works are good. About the West Bank graffiti I think it is an apt analogy to the situation, the Palestine people are priosners in their own country.
3.
Probably not, I guess that the house itself would be worth much more if it had a Banksy painting on one of its walls. It all depends on the person, if someone perceives art as something deep, and wants to experience it just as the artist wanted, then its inappropriate, but other people don't get art that much and are in posession of one of his artwork.
It's something between these two factors. He has fantastic ideas and knows how to show them to the average people.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
They are very impressive and it's good to know that there is someone like Banksy to show his opinion/view about many things, all over the world. Maybe his painting on the West Bank has been done to raise the authorities?
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
If someone paints something on my wall, that's my wall and I can do with it what I want. That's my opinion :)
Without a doubt Banksy is a great and a very talented artist. I don't think however that he is one of the best ones out there. All of the theories revolving around him are causing people to talk and wonder who he actually is and where does he come from. That mistery lifts him above others and that might be the biggest of his all pieces of art.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
If the graffiti is original, pretty and impressive then I have nothing against it. Beautiful painting is still a beautiful painting no matter if it's on a canvas or a wall. There should be some restrictions of course because people shouldn't be allowed to paint wherever they want even if that's a piece of art. On the other hand there are some cases which justify such actions - West Bank for example.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
If Banksy decided to paint something on my wall then I would definately consider selling it if the price was right. Art might be his but the wall is mine. Banksy is very often working against other people's wishes so why would anyone who never asked for such graffiti in the first place have any objections about selling his property?
To be honest, I have no idea why is he famous, or when it comes to it, why is any of the famous artists famous. I just do not have the level of expertise in this to know that.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
I am not an art person. I am too far away from all this and do not understand this form of self expression. So, no opinion on this topic from me.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
People doing something for money while ignoring the word of even the creator of this is the manifestation of the human nature. It is the best example of how to describe humanity. Despicable.
I think he is a great artist, but his fame is caused by a mystery. He makes art incognito and people are very curious about who is he.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
I like his works very much, I think they always have a good message and they look nice.
Honestly, I don't know what to think about this painting.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
Yes I would remove. Over time, the work would certainly be damaged outside, by selling it to the museum I could keep it in good condition and earn some money.
I don't care, he doesn't paint them on his property.
2. I would describe creation as minimalist. I like art with small number of colors, so his paintings are cool for me.
3. I would receive it as inappropriate. Often this type of art is connected with specified place, so replacing it could decide about quality.
I think it is a combination of both. Banksy's worldwide fame is largely due to his hidden identity, which in my opinion is a part of him as an artist. His works are often commentaries on social issues so maybe his anonymity can be a way to make the people focus more on the issue itself than on the artists.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
From the few works of Banksy that I know, I like them a lot. They are all quite unexpected and very original. To me, the statement painted on the West Bank wall is a sarcastic comment from Banky on the political situation and a good way to draw attention to the problem.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
It depends on how much money would I be offered. It is an interesting dilemma. On one hand, since Banky doesn't want his works to be sold, he should be painting them only on common walls or properties so they cannot be sold by law. On the other hand, I think it is admirable that his works are made for the enjoyment of people and not their profit.
I think there are a lot of things which have an impact on his "fame". Definitely he is really talented person and the results of his work are impressive. I like him a lot. Moreover his PR is really good he become famous and he knows how to use it. I like him.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
In my opinion his work is clear and readable for everyone. The graffiti are pretty simple but it has a huge impact on the viewer. The modern art should look like this.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
No, I think I wouldn’t do it. I have learned that there are some more important things than money.
Both things, I mean he as person and his art is something amazing and unique.
2. What are your views about his work and graffiti in general? What does Banksy's painting on the West Bank wall communicate to you?
The message behind any of his art work is one of the greatest things we can see in our times I believe, I believe that this kind of art can be interpreted by anyone - so that is great about it.
3. Would you remove a wall of your house to sell Banksy painting if you were offered a lot of money? What do you think about people selling his work against Banksy's wishes?
No, It would be the act of disgrace for artist.
2. Almost every work is designed to focus attention on an important issue, and its fame makes the problem much publicised around the world. I like the power that his art has. I was never really a fan of graffiti but he convinced me to like it a bit.
The graffiti at the West Bank perfectly builds the tension which appears when juxtaposing drawings of almost infantile themes with the severity and hostility of powerful walls.
3. I'm not sure I would. Of course it would be better if people would leave his work open to the public but there may be cases where the money from the sale of a work of art can do a lot of good for families in need, so in such cases I think the sale may be justified to some extent.