The Revolution Of The 19th Century

“Street art is omnipresent in urban streets and is a rish source of inspiration for artistic creativity. . . It possesses the aesthetic voices of the ordinary and enables resistance for the marginalized. Banksy’s street art, in particular, can guide students to think about various social and political issues and to reflect upon the immediate, if not unjust, world in which they live, to transform that world, and to

In 1971 at the start of Nixon’s war on drugs, before the 0000s crack epidemic; before the advent of political tactics used to demonstrify ghetto neighborhoods succeeded in bastardizing its urban youth, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five recorded what is considered one of the greatest urban narratives of his time. In his rap “The Message Pt. 2” Flash described the daily occurrences and harsh realities of his ghetto life in vivid detail. Now 45 years later in the midst of black lives matter, at a place in America where black lives must be affirmed through hashtags and protest, many are upset that the American art people have come to rely on, to tell the stories and narrate the experiences of being poor and black, only exist to valorize the crime, money, drugs and sex that come from being poor.

Jim Crow laws in 19th century post-colonial America consented to the segregation of black and white folks. Graffiti is criminalized as damage to public property that invades the public space, yet Jim Crow signs were regulated by the nation-state and were not considered vandalism. Thereafter, African Americans appropriated racial signage as historical evidence and displaced power from the origins of white production. The pigeons holding signs in protest against the lone bird in the Clacton-on-Sea mural is parallel to racial segregation. In contrast to commercial signage, racial signage was never marketed. Likewise, Banksy’s artwork is not

Banksy’s projects always revolve around a key idea relating to the site and time specific political and socio-economic issues. Banksy is known for condensing complex global issues, not always at the attention of the general public, and putting his stance on the issue in very simplistic terms through his art. He gained a major following across the world of all ages and socio-economic beginnings. Another aspect that makes Banksy very likable to the communities is the fact that he wants his art to be public and available to everyone in all the parts of the world, instead of just a handful of high end galleries, museums, and private collector’s cellars. Moreover, the Banksy Effect was a central force to bring attention to street art, not vandalizing and meaningless to the majority graffiti, and put it on an international art arena. Bristol is not the only city in the world embracing the street artists. Miami, Baltimore, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Melbourne, and many more cities are progressively embracing street art rather than repelling it. Thus, in the next section I will turn to the discussion on the public policy in favor of Banksy and his fellow street artists, current possible legal avenues and briefly touch

The film follows the idea that street art’s authenticity, or inauthenticity, has much to do with the artists’ motivations. At the beginning of the documentary, when Guetta documents the the different street artist’s works, it is revealed that Banky appreciates other street artist who have spent years perfecting their craft, developing their own styles, and devoting their time to expressing themselves. Although Banksy argues in favor of the authenticity of art made by street artist like him, he calls into question Guetta’s art. “Each time Guetta pushes his camera into the face of a celebrity or artist at work, we cringe...We’re similarly overcome with discomfort as Guetta begins to plaster all over town drawings of himself holding a camera, copying the styles of Banksy and the street artist he has followed for so long” (BU PAPER). Most street artists are drawn to their art by their passion and their need to express themselves. It becomes unclear if Guetta does his street art for fame or for

In the west bank city of Bethlehem, Banksy created an iconic piece, of a man in a riot. He wore a handkerchief over his mouth and his cap backward but instead of being armed with a weapon he was armed with flowers. This very famous work of Banksy's shows how people may be able to achieve more by negotiating kindly not violently with others. This was so popular it was produced as prints, on the shirt and even on phone cases.

Banksy is a well known graffiti artist that specializes in stencilling. I chose this artist because his techniques differ from other major artist. The meaning behind his artworks intrigue and inspire me to design my artwork in a similar way. Not only is Banksy a graffiti artist, he’s a political activist, film director, and painter. I’ll be discuss how he begun stencilling and where he was originally influenced to do so, as well as where and how he designs his artwork.

In today’s society, we have many rights that were fought for over the years. We gained freedom but do we really have complete freedom? In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Americans and Europeans fought for equality and liberty. These rights were fought for all across the world.

During the 1970’s, New York City faced a fiscal crisis that brought it to the brink of bankruptcy resulting in severe budget cuts for many of its assets (Dunstan, p.g. 1). The budget reduction of public transportation and its security resulted in the birth of a deep culture that that seemingly replaced the void that was left behind. The empty subways turned into glimmering canvases for those who wanted a form of expression. What started out as simple name taggings turned into a voice for society’s mutes. Despite being constantly at odds with the law, the community stood together and graffiti evolved into a more law abiding and more accepted variation of what it originally was. Despite its evolution and recognition, it has been constantly denounced as mere vandalism rather than a form of art. Graffiti is art because it is the purposeful arrangement of elements for aesthetic appeal, can be used for the purpose of illustrative mimesis, and is a visual form of creative activity.

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.

Banksy had a very particular way of doing things. Many of his stencils included rats with

In this piece of street art, Banksy depicts a water tap “being phoned,” a clever play on “phone-tapping.” He created this piece in 2011 in response to the UK’s News International’s phone-hacking scandals. Aiming to downplay the direness of the situation and add an element of lightheartedness to the situation, Banksy makes his sentiment of inconsequence clear by painting a playful scene and a silly character. This ironic juxtaposition with the grave scandal conveys the pettiness he perceives of the scandal. With this humorous piece, Banksy appeals to his audience’s own sense of humor and amusement in order to convey his facetious attitude toward the scandal, rather than a stern or indignant one. He communicates his overall message by understating

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

As Banksy’s artwork spread throughout the world the prices of his paintings went up as well. A painting of a girl in an astronaut suite holding a yellow bird sold for $576,000. After this picture sold Banksy posted on his website a painting of an art auction with the words, “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.” He calls the art world, “the biggest joke going ... a rest home for the over privileged, the pretentious, and the weak.” Banksy takes pride in telling people his opinion of their actions. His website post against people buying his paintings for a lot of money is a sign of just how much he dislikes the use of money in the world. I think this proves that the goal in creating his graffiti art is not to make a lot of money but to let his opinion be heard on all kinds of controversial topics. His strong opinions may also be because of his anonymous identity.

Banksy is a very renowned street artist who keeps his identity unknown. His artwork is portrayed by “striking images, often combined with slogans, [which] engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed” (“Banksy Biography”). He first started his bold street art in Bristol, his hometown located in London, but quickly spread to the United States of America. In the U.S., Banksy targeted the most populated cities; this was due to the fact that it was easier for him to spread his messages. With a crowded location, his lessons will extent over an audience much quicker.