The Banksy deception

Whilst the migrants of Shoreditch and Dalton hold Banksy in the highest esteem, looking to him as the god-king of street art with his political sentiment and class mockery, other more hardened graffiti writers and street artists consider him a plagiarising vandal; painting over legendary graffiti pieces with his contrived stencils and allegedly stolen ideas. On the face of it, Banksy creates stunning propaganda depicting the state of the world’s affairs in large art pieces daubed illegally throughout the streets of Europe. But some argue that scratching the surface shows a pretentious performer using the roots of graffiti culture to sell his work to the rich and famous, all without paying respect to the creators of the outlawed art.

But perhaps Banksy is simply pulling one over on his critics as well. Perhaps he has pulled off the ultimate swindle, by selling art that allows the privileged to feel worldly as it mocks them from their ornate walls. With his work, Banksy has infiltrated the homes of investment bankers, judges, MPs and snooty art collectors that consider the spray-can a hand grenade being rolled into the museums of fine art. So in some ways, many of his targets are literally paying him to laugh in their faces, making his work sincere with a different approach. On the other hand, he really could just be an overrated stencil artist with hollow ethics, using the darker side of world issues to tap into people’s consciousness whilst making serious money in the process.

After all, many wealthy customers of Banksy could put their money to better use in the form of aide or charity contribution, but I suspect that most would rather show how much they care about injustice to their friends at dinner parties, by hanging an exclusive Banksy canvas with a little girl cuddling a warhead above the table. Something Banksy must realise himself. Either way, there’s no disputing that what he does with his gigantic stencils and rainbow selection of spray paints, is a lot more interesting to look at than a supermodel the size of a Biro refill advertising an obscurely named fragrance at the bus stop. Public space has become the stomping ground of global corporations, ramming adverts into our faces in a bid to convince us to buy more tat that we probably don’t need, so having street art and decent graffiti to cover it up with can never be a bad thing in my opinion.

However, now that Banksy is selling his work for hundreds of thousands to private bidders and neon toothed celebrities, is his street art not just advertising also? The Bristol born guerrilla artist has ranted about his disdain for over powered advertising and its invasion of our streets, yet it seems Banksy’s street art – which is also put up without our permission – is in some way an advertisement for what the wealthy could have pinned to the walls of their penthouse apartments. Making a living from what you love to do is an ultimate goal in life for anyone, but with messages apparently so anti-establishment, Banksy’s route to wealth has some critics crying the dreaded chant of “sell-out!” Whilst others say that he’s ridden the tag loaded graffiti train to the top, without showing the deserved respect to revered artists, some of which he has rubbed up the wrong way.

Banksy was first properly recognised for his stencilled rats which popped up around city streets. These worker rats seemed a unique and inventive use of graffiti. However, almost the exact same rats had been put up 20 years beforehand, by a French street artist known as Blek le Rat. Blek began spraying his rats upon the walls of France using a stencil that he’d drawn himself. He then snared a more political following after stencilling such things as a soldier with the word “STOP!” sprayed across his front at an army checkpoint, and brand laden teenagers with TV’s for heads. If it sounds familiar, it ought to. In comparison, Banksy and Blek le Rat’s works are almost uncanny, both in style and message. Amidst accusations of bootlegging Blek, Banksy claimed to be none the wiser. Surely though, as he started to cut stencils and load up on spray paint, he would’ve come across Blek’s work before now, what with presumably being a fan of street art and all? Blek le Rat stays fairly tight lipped on the matter, but has spoken of his irritation at the similarities.

Another notorious street artist that Banksy has defaced is King Robbo. Robbo is a working class lad from the East end of London, famous for tagging almost every single train in the city with his colourful work in the 90’s. After the graffiti boom died down in the UK, it seemed Robbo had hung up his balaclava for the last time. That was until Banksy painted over his renowned Robbo mural under Regents canal, over an altercation that supposedly had Banksy leaving with a sore face after he told Robbo he’d never heard of him. Although Banksy denies this, he went on to paint over Robbo tags all over London, tags which other graffiti writers had left alone due to Robbo’s prestige amongst their community. Graffiti writers were infuriated and Robbo retaliated by re-spraying his now hidden tags, with imitation stencils and phrases taking a dig at Banksy – even spraying “Banksy le Rat” in reference to his alleged art style piracy. This cast Banksy in a new light, apparently showing that he had little respect for the graffiti art that had given birth to his own work. The graffiti war backfired for Banksy though, as Robbo is now showcasing his art and being commissioned to spray enormous murals that he does entirely free handed as a result of the conflict. One ironically next to Banksy’s gigantic flower throwing rioter, a stencil that someone has now sprayed “Banksy’s a sellout” over.

After digging into the world of street art, it looks like Banksy isn’t quite the legend that many think him to be. His political statements don’t always correlate with his actual behaviour, and a lack of respect has made him an adversary of the graffiti world. But at least Banksy’s mainstream reputation stays firmly intact, as county council’s cover his work with half inch thick Perspex to stop any graffiti vandals disfiguring it. But who knows, maybe the irony of such acts is what makes him tick. Whether you feel Banksy is a double agent art genius or simply an opportunist with some stencils, you have to question the motives of a street artist with a PR team on his payroll. Like with most big business, someone is most likely being deceived.

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