Banksy Research Paper

“In contrast to government-commissioned public art, street art is illicit and subversive in nature. Therefore, most street artists, including Banksy, use pseudonyms to avoid legal prosecution for vandalism.”(Chung 27) Banksy’s street art does not focus on competing with rival artists, but focuses on engaging with a broader audience in a deeper level. He provokes his audience by deeply expressing out various social practices that helps viewers to reflect and confront certain aspects together as a community. (27) The underlying message of Banksy’s art can lead towards an active involvement of street art within the community.

Whether it is painting, drawing or sculpting, marginal art forms have become commodities. In addition, artists are becoming more popular for their fame rather than the content of their pieces. As artists have gone from creators to celebrities who happen to create, they are able to use their artwork to their own selfish benefit. In the Banksy film, “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, these issues are brought to life and help viewers realize that art as a commodity is not necessarily a good thing. When a marginal art form becomes commodified and a cult of celebrity emerges, the art loses its value and the genuine purpose and priorities are altered.

Once upon a time, in a far away land called New York City, a mythical hero took up residency in October of 2013. Under cover of darkness, he spread his messages of outrage, peace and intrigue, causing New Yorkers to scramble about every morning in search of his message which broke the boundaries of the way that we experience art. The mythical hero goes by the name Banksy and he did it all with a can of spray paint.

Many discover life in the paintings of a dead artist in the most miniscule details: the number of colours used in a painting, the size of a flower, or the expression of a model. Looking back, one can remember how middle school art teachers would indulge our imaginations with lectures on the curiously complex intentions behind every colourful stroke of the painters brush. However, letters exchanged between artist reveal the truth behind not only the intentions of an artist but also the tactics used to create the sacrosanct works of art produced by one. Currently there are 844 surviving Vincent van Gogh letters, over 900 paintings, and over 1100 drawings. One man's life has been compiled into a medium sized pile of canvas, wood, and paper,

Directly after his death, the first bibliography for Vincent Van Gogh was written, by Emile Bernard, who was a painter and friend of Vincent’s. It was three pages long and discussed his aspirations as well as his love for his brother Theo. Emile Bernard continued to celebrate Vincent’s life by later publishing some of the letters he had written. Vincent’s sister Elisabeth later published a booklet of poetry detailing his life. This brought forth the attention of many others who knew Van Gogh to then write about him as well. Later, in the Municipal Museum in Amsterdam, hundreds of his drawings and paintings were displayed. After 1914, many publications of letters, art, and biographies were published in remembrance of Vincent Van Gogh’s work

I chose Vincent Van Gogh because he was not only a great artist, but a tortured soul as well. “The 19th century painter Vincent Van Gogh is almost as famous for his mental instability as for his vivid paintings. “Van Gogh knew how to use the brush just so as to display his feeling for all to see, though it may not have been adequately understood much less well received at the time. Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands in 1853, a year after his mother had given birth to a stillborn child to which a year later, the same name was given to Vincent. He would pass the grave of his brother with the headstone which bore his name, how’s that for depressing! He felt rejected his entire life of thirty – seven short years, by his mother, his friend

Vincent van Gogh was an incredible painter who was a part of the post-impressionism movement of art. Many believe his artwork and style shaped 20th-century art and many artists incorporated his painting style. Van Gogh is often regarded as on of the fathers of post-expressionism. Sadly, critics only appreciated his work after his death, by a self-inflicted gunshot, in 1880.

At one point in the film, street art became the rave and was being auctioned off in auction houses, but Banksy and other artists did not believe that the focus for their artwork was about the money; rather, it was the passion and expressional aspect of their art pieces. He believed that Thierry's video footage would be the perfect way to depict this passion, but a majority of the footage Thierry had was unusable. However, the usable footage that was used in the documentary was enough to demonstrate the true passion some street artists had. Many have different motives of creating their artwork as well. For example, Borf, creates street art in commemoration of his friend that passed away and even his alias is in memory of the friend who passed. Banksy’s purpose of creating art is often as a form to criticize social problems or just for humor at times. A very striking example of his artwork as a form to express social problems was when he went to the Gaza strip and created a trompe-l'oeil pieces of street art against the wall, which at the time was experiencing a vast amount of conflict and civil unrest. This was extremely dangerous, but Banksy managed to place it on the wall without any harm, which shows his dedication to his

Who Runs the Gift Shop: A Cultural Critique of Banksy’s Documentary Banksy is a street artist who is both famous and infamous for the work he does. His 2010 documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop only adds to this. As the popularity of reality television and the cult of celebrity become ever more present in the current culture, drawing the line between what is real and what is fake becomes more and more difficult. What works such as Exit Through the Gift Shop do is raise the question: How much do these distinctions matter.

The nature of Banksy’s work is iconoclastic in the way he blatantly designs images to rebel governmental authority or depict the failings of

Art is a persons’ opinion. The definition of art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. There is no real definition for what is beautiful or appealing to the human eye. Banksy is said to be an artist by some and a graffiti lawbreaker by others. Basically, it is up to the person to define Banksy as someone who is doing the right thing verses doing the wrong thing. Banksy creates his graffiti pictures to make a stand for what he believes is the right way to look at controversial issues. Some people may not like Banksy’s graffiti because they do not have the same views as him. Some people might

Banksy once said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Banksy, the director of Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary that goes through the heart of street art strongly emphasizes that art is not about money, but rather about expression and passion. He supports his argument mainly through his strong visual and audio tactics. Visuals are much stronger than any other sense. A reoccurring factor that influences the viewer’s thoughts towards the argument is where Banksy focuses the video.

Showing your humanity through raw emotions used to be seen as proof of a person’s sincerity, honesty, and integrity. Something happened in the 20th century, women became the picture of teary-eyed fragility and the tearless, aggressive male became the ideal of masculinity. Media messages, commercials, and television shows stopped portraying men as responsible, competent, and compassionate husbands, sons, and fathers, instead they consist of idiotic or misogynistic archetypes. When men are portrayed as sensitive humans, it is largely under the caveat of being gay. As stated in A New Vision of Masculinity, there is still little worse than being mistaken for a homosexual (Cooper, 2016).

Demonstrated all throughout his works, Banksy does not make it clear what message his art actually gives off. Instead, he leaves it up to the onlookers’ own perception to decipher the true meaning behind the image. Most of his art uses no words, by that, it is through the investigation of semiotics that we can contrast between the meaning and the undertone of his works (Bal). For most of his artworks’, its not hard to seize the idea behind them. Some of their meanings are unmistakable and give a clear indication of what message is being perceived. In fact I have the perfect example.

Domestic violence has been plaguing our society for years. There are many abusive relationships, and the only question to ask is: why? The main answer is control. The controlling characteristic that males attribute to their masculinity is the cause to these abusive relationships. When males don’t have control they feel their masculinity is threatened and they need to do something about it. This doesn’t occur in just their relationships, but rather every facet of life. Men are constantly in a struggle for power and control whether it is at work, home, during sports, or in a relationship, this remains true. So the only way for them to get this power is for them to be “men”; tough, strong, masculine, ones that demand and take power. Where