Banksy
Monday May 17, 2010 at 8:00PM
One of today’s most underappreciated art forms is Graffiti. Graffiti is art with some spunk and a purpose. Since painting graffiti on public buildings is considered an act of anti-establishment and vandalism, many of the great graffiti artists have to take great precautionary measures to keep their identities a secret, and remain pseudo-anonymous. Perhaps the most popular and well regarded of these masters of disguise is England’s own Banksy. Banksy’s art can be seen on buildings in random cities all over the world. The themes of his pieces tend to be heavily satirical towards politics and culture, and are extremely recognizable as his own. Because of how seemingly perfect each piece is in form, theme, and location, it’s pretty clear that Banksy puts a great deal of time and thought into carefully selecting his canvases (buildings) to maximize their dramatic and ironic effects on people. For instance, a man in a rocking chair painted on a boarded up abandoned house in New Orleans’ lower 9th ward that says “No Loitering”, or a naked man hanging from a window sill on the side of a Sexual Health building. Because of the nature of many of his pieces and how utterly incredible they are, a large number of the buildings on which he has painted have chosen to allow the paintings to remain. Some property owners that were lucky enough to be recipients of Banksy’s work have even gone as far as to try to sell his art by selling the chunks of the wall they are painted on. Some of Banksy’s most recognizable works are of Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) from Pulp Fiction holding bananas instead of guns, and Charles Manson holding a hitchhiking sign that reads “Anywhere”. Banksy’s art can be viewed online at www.banksy.co.uk/