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Graffiti........ You either love it or you hate it. Looking at this scene by the waterfront I'm not sure what I think but I feel that if a wall doesn't belong to you, then you shouldn't paint on it.
The City of Bristol has its share of people leaving their stamp on blank walls and buildings, some of it very ugly and rubbishy, though in some areas there are designated places for people to use for graffiti and this seems to work well.
However, there is graffiti and graffiti...........
Recently, I found myself queuing for forty five minutes outside Bristol City Museum to see Banksy's work! Yes...... forty five minutes!
For those who haven't ever heard of him but would like to learn more, go here.
Is it really possible, though, that people have never heard of Banksy, because he is very popular in the West Country. His work is worth thousands of pounds. He is tolerated, his work is unique and Bristol is very proud of this man. No one knows who he is. He keeps himself anonymous. People reckon that he must be around forty years old, but only a few trusted people know exactly who he is!
Well, after queuing for all that time and talking to many people from other lands who had come all the way to see his work, I got into the museum, feeling very tired.
Banksy makes a statement! This is the first thing that caught my eye, a burnt out ice cream van.
At first I thought, "Oh my Goodness, he has defaced all the statues!" However, I soon realized that they wouldn't have allowed him to do that. He skillfully made replicas. I expect the originals are some where safely hidden away.
This statue was supposed to be a Roman goddess or something but Banksy had made it into a person begging on the streets.
Many things caught my eye, in particular a cage with what looked like a leopard sitting on a log, with tail swishing back and forth. However, when I went to look at it front view, it turned out to be a fur coat!
Another cage held a nest and baby birds calling to their mother. However, when I went to investigate, I noticed a cctv camera on a branch and two baby ones in a nest calling out! This seemed so typical of Banksy to to turn everything around and get people thinking.
I think I will have to go back again and take more photos.
It was all a bit too much to take in on the first visit.
As I said before, you either love this kind of thing or you hate it!
What do you think?
31 comments:
Very interesting art. Sure makes you think.
Ohhh I love the statues ..and sometimes (sometimes) I do love graffiti.
Art provokes thought and reactions.
I like what he's doing! And I like the graffiti somewhat, but I agree that people should not "beautify" walls that are not theirs. In designated places--that's good.
WOW!
I am sorry to say I have not heard of him - but then again I am tucked away in a small southern town with not a lot of art! :)
The pictures you shared I really like - love the ice cream truck. Maybe it reminds me of life - good stuff in the middle of all the smoke and smut!
Thanks for sharing - will have to go and check out more on him.
I am sorry to say I have not heard of him - but then again I am tucked away in a small southern town with not a lot of art! :)
The pictures you shared I really like - love the ice cream truck. Maybe it reminds me of life - good stuff in the middle of all the smoke and smut!
Thanks for sharing - will have to go and check out more on him.
Thanks for sharing this...I do love to watch all the graffiti that's been drawn on the freight cars as the trains go by...can't think when they have time to such detailed work!
Sandi
I'm not a fan of graffiti, but I do love subversive art.
Seems to be a very gifted chap. I wonder why he wants to be anonymous? He is famous though in that he has a page in Wikipedia!!!
I don't approve of graffiti in general, some of it is so garish, but maybe this Banksy has approval I don't know. He seems to be trying to make a point.
Love Granny
Interesting! I wonder what makes him tick?
I like it that people are making art :-)
best wishes
Ribbon
I like good graffiti in designated places, not on the electricity box right outside my apartment. Somebody's tag is on there. But good graffiti is wonderful and colorful as long as it's in the right place.
I'm not convinced yet about your artist and will have to see more of his work to make up my mind about him. I had heard of him, but have seen little of his work.
There is someone here who stencils signatures of famous artists on walls and doorways. Very interesting.
Interesting. I will have to check out the link. Some people who do tagging are extremely talented, but people shouldn't just leave their art allover.
I'm not into modern art very much, but these pieces are funny and do make you stop and think. I had to look at the statues twice to catch the details. I had never heard of Banksy before; thanks for enlightening me!
those are awsome I could swear I saw somthing about this on the news.
great photo friday
OH and I have said we would like to see this exhibition and now you have made me more determined to do so. Wonderful! A x
Graffiti as a challenge to the status quo is by nature edgy. Artists like Banksy do it with such intelligence, wit, and style, that they are engaging. The ruffians and fools who simply need to destroy things because they can--they are another story. A sad story.
In all my years researching graffiti and taking to writers, I met those who liked messing things up for the heck of it but not one who wouldn't do right (write?) by a blank wall legally if given the chance. In fact, legal walls around here have helped reduce the vandalism.
I just love the stuff....
Some graffitti is amazing. I do like that burnt out bus. :)
I do like the edginess and wit of Banksy ... I would have lined up to see this exhibit, too!
We might be disappointed if we had a face to put to the art - your expectations might change.
love it, and very envious! i would llove to go too. (but thanks for the pictures!)
I loathe Graffiti, even Banksy's or the painted houses in Belfast-it is selfish,greedy, destructive, intrusive, and anarchic, because it uses spaces which belong to everyone. Even the graffiti that is easier on the eye, like Banksys.
Critics have not gone for this latest work shown here...now he has become 'establishment' by exposing his identity, and selling his 'work' for astonishing sums of money the 'establishment don't want him. What a load of bull the whole scene is.
That is fascinating! I kind of like grafitti. I know it shouldn't be done, but since it is, it does add character to old abandoned buildings.
Maggie, were you there last Saturday? I went alone about 2pm and waited 30mins in the queue. As you said, it was very pleasant in the queue, with lots of nice people to talk to! The exhibition was fab wasn't it? Today I queued again for an hour with Tall Girl and her friends and Small Sprog. By the time we got in we didn't have much time to look around as we had to be home at 12 for SS's friend to come and play. So we shall just have to go AGAIN!
The second time around I made more sense of some of the statements he was trying to make. I like it when art is thought provoking :)
Very unique art. This is defenitely very different from any other museum in the world.
Love the pics Maggie!
The art looks wonderful and I would have loved to have seen a pic of the baby bird cctv cameras in the nest! sounds intriguing!
Big Hug! X
I have mixed feelings about graffiti - some of it is quite beautiful!! But some of it is annoying! I love how you call it queing - it sounds so much more glamorous than waiting in line. :)
Love the ice cream truck! Great PSF!
I think anything which gets you to take a second look and thought is a good thing. I'm not sure it's worthy of either extreme though.. love/hate.
Simply amazing. Some graffiti is good, works of art in some cases. Like this! Birmingham Council once commissioned a graffiti artist to cover a wall and we had to admit it was spectacular.
I had not heard of Bansky, so I followed the link you provided and then did more research. As far as graffiti, I have lived in towns that allow artists areas to paint their ideas and they are wonderful. I have a hard time with graffiti that is not art, but words sprayed on highway overpasses and such. Not artsy at all. I would be interested to see more photos of your next trip to the museum. Is it true as Moannie says that Bansky has exposed his identity?
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