Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Banksy unveiled

Until now London's (and Brangelina's) favorite graffiti artist Banksy was known only through his tongue-in-cheek stunts and his vaguely anti-establishment stencils. But thanks to some legal gymnastics, Banksy is finally revealed. And surprise! He looks just like an Average Bloke. Now this is either good news or bad news. If you like your artists quirky, say like Dali, that such works as a painted elephant emanated from such a jejune fellow is bound to be disappointing. However, if you're a fan of Jeff Koons and Gerhard Richter and other boring-looking artists, you might find it uplifting that such work flows from such a bland container.

24 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Thought I would never see the Banksman himself

Nice one CS!

3:19 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Banksy the man, eh? I can't put my finger on why I don't like him, it is as if he sits and thinks of what he can do next, "hhmm, it be cool if I went to the gaza strip and then maybe kingston, yeah... that is really cutting edge", there's something contrived that I don't like about his work.

Some of his stuff is fucking cool though.

3:25 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He's a dude.

Hanging his own stuff in the Portrait Gallery and it not being noticed for a week was fucking genius.

Added to that the fact that Brian "cunt" Sewell hates him - and there's the makings of an all-time art hero for me.

3:27 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

is it possible to have art that is 'uncontrived'?

3:27 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Y'know I'm undecided about him

Part of me thinks rock on dude the other part thinks he might be a middle class twat trying to be 'political' through his art.

His stencils are wicked but I've not seen anything controversial from him for a while.

3:28 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has he/she ever been arrested and charged for the vandalism he does?

3:29 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

okay cool guy - have you??

3:30 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have you?

No, I never got caught signing bus shelters. I wasn't having a go at Banksy BTW, I was just asking if he has ever been collard.

3:31 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dubversion- is it possible to have art that is 'uncontrived'?

yeah I am confused:

I think so anyway, id' say tracey emin's sketch of kate moss for instance was uncontrived.

You're going to have to help me out then - what do you mean by 'uncontrived'?

3:37 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Banksy is not an artist and if he is then he is a particularly crap one.

3:42 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm going to admit it.

At the bookfair, I bought the book.

It's also the only book that everyone at work, given a spare minute, wanders over, picks up, and giggles at.

3:47 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Charlie Brooker seems to absolutely hate Banksy with a passion. I remember Brooker slating him in one of his screen burn columns in the Guardian guide a couple of years ago. iirc he was pretty down on him for doing a lot of his work in or around Hoxton, where it would get him noticed by Nathan Barleys etc.

I have to admit I like his stuff myself though :-)

3:57 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hold on, according to CS' link this picture was published by the Evening Standard in *2004* ... How come no-one noticed til now? Or is it just me?

4:11 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Max - beacuse the legal team got an injunction to ban any photographs of Banks that is why.

4:36 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's nice to put a face to him. I'm a fan of his stuff, esp. Pulp Fiction wot used to be near Old Street, until it was covered by crappy graffiti.

4:57 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous - I think the point is, this picture is still up. And the Evening Standard didn't pulp their edition 3 years ago. So why has it taken til May this year for someone to stick this image back up? And - frankly - why wasn't there a bigger story around the ES shots?

Anyway ... it's all academic now :)

12:29 am  
Blogger Bucky Turco said...

I was wondering the same thing when I re-uncovered the photos. How come this wasn't a huge story in 2004. I only have two theories.

A. Banksy and his machines were successful in drowning the story out.

B. There's a lot more blogs now than in 2004, like A LOT more.

Either way, for me, this was more about unmasking the stupidity of our media than Banksy. The photos have been around since 2004, there's been thousands of articles written about him, and yet these photos exist. Go figure. Terrible work you jack off journalists.

ROAR

Bucky Turco

1:00 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not that average a bloke around the wallet ....

7:59 am  
Blogger Quink said...

Wow. If only I had the talent to spraypaint his features in a few prominent places...

3:11 pm  
Blogger *snake*bite* said...

Never actually seen any of his work!!!

No i dont live in a box!!!!

xXx

11:12 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

so wrong..so wrong.

idk why the hell someone would ruin it.

banksy is my hero.
and someone just had to stick their nose in someone else's business no doubt for money.

disgusting pigs.

i love his work.
it's more real that the crap you pay money to see in museums.

his has meaning.

more thought than any painter could ever do..

you guys should be ashamed.

6:38 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thats not me

5:50 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry to disapoint all but this isnt him.

Despite such saga surrounding the conspirisy of Banksy it still continues

Happy Hunting

8:10 pm  
Blogger đkm said...

Microlon

Walk-in cooler panelssy is my hero.
and someone just had to stick their nose in someone else's business no doubt for money.

disgusting pigs.

i love his work.
it's mor

6:11 pm  

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