Banksy: Graffiti Street Art Legend Essay Example

Introduction:

The Graffiti or street art is usually defined as any kind of unauthorized art that can be seen in publicly or privately owned location. Unauthorized art is showcased through multiple means like sculptures, stickers, flash mobs, tags and many more. The street art provides the artist with freedom and to spread a daring message through their art (Gleaton, 2012). Authorities in the urban sector have always been against street art and are making anti-graffiti technologies to eliminate this art once and for all. However, this art has gained recognition in urban cities and people are starting to admire the street art (Mcauliffe, 2012). Moreover, this art is more regarded as vandalism in the major countries of the world (Dovey, Wollan & Woodcock, 2012). The street art started in the 1960s in New York with hip hop graffiti. The youngsters during that period used to paint their names across the city walls. The graffiti artist used to write their real names or nicknames on the walls for branding the type of art they do. Moreover, it was fascinating and exhilarating for the artists to see their work and see others reaction to their art. So, these artists then started painting on subway walls as majority of the city used trains for their usual commute (Gleaton, 2012).

The rise of graffiti occurred in the middle of 1980s spreading through urban towns and cities all around the world. The street art in this era have set new boundaries for the future generations, a transformation from conventional to a new set of boundaries (Armbrust, 2001 as cited in Lovatt, 2010). There were many street artists that got recognition through their art and the messages they tried to convey through their art. The famous artists like Leon Reid IV also known as ‘Darius’ plans his art and tries to find a suitable location where his art would seem appropriate. For Mark Jenkins, the individuals residing in the city are the main elements of his art to which he calls them ‘embeds’ – a convincing human sculpture to confuse the citizens that generates misperception and humor (Burnham, 2010). Similarly, one of the most renowned graffiti and street artist, ‘Banksy’ has been a forefront in street art. Banksy is known to bring the hidden street art in front of the world and was the one to make it acceptable by the world. This essay will investigate how did Banksy made the street art acceptable, a detailed description of his art and what are the main elements of his art. Furthermore, this essay will also discuss the influences of his art in different regions.

Banksy is a British graffiti artist who is well known for his political stencil art. He was born and raised in Bristol, previously he used to draw conventional graffiti art but due to an incident he changed his style to stenciling graffiti art. The incident took place when he was painting on a wall with his fellow artists, they left him when they heard a police car was approaching the scene and he hid under a train for the duration of six hours with oil leaking on his shoulder (Gleaton, 2012).

Through his art, Banksy tries to communicate with dark humor that is drawn through stenciling art. The evolution of conventional graffiti style to stenciling art was because of that incident. The art work of Banksy appears commonly on roads, walls and bridges across the world. His art showcases animals like apes and rats, cops, army men, the old age, children and famous pop-music artists. He tried to conveys messages that are bold like phrases that are against war or capitalist society (DeTurk, 2015).  After showcasing his work on the streets and walls, Banksy started to showcase his art collection in different locations like museums and warehouses. He first showcased his collected in 2003 in Tate Britain gallery, his collection was named as “Crimewatch UK has Ruined the Countryside for All of Us”. The theme of these type of showcases were street art which usually disrupted the environment of the locations with his bold art pieces (DeTurk, 2015, p. 23). Gleaton (2012, p. 31) quotes Banksy that “he wants to show the world that money has not crushed the humanity out of everything” through his art. In his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy interviewed Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in America and his fascination with the street art. Moreover, this documentary shows us that how did Banksy’s art was evolved and it was accepted by the general public. People were aware of his street art and could easily detect that this piece of art is of Banksy. In his book Wall and Piece, Banksy indicates that the best canvas to showcase an art is a wall through the means of street art, which is the most authentic art form accessible because there is no superiority in this art. He also mentions that an individual can display h/her art on one of the finest walls the city has to offer.