Comments on: Saluting the flag

By: xaaronx

xaaronx — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:25:25 +0000

Yes, but at places like that they’re not buying it from him. Rather they are buying pieces that had already been sold and which the show’s organizer had collected.

From the man’s own website:

Aren’t street art auctions a bit lame?
I don’t agree with auction houses selling street art – its undemocratic, it glorifies greed and I never see any of the money.

What’s with all the gallery shows?
None of the print and painting exhibitions in proper art galleries are anything to do with me, it’s all stuff they bought previously. I only ever mount shows in warehouses or war zones or places full of live animals (I’m aware the pictures don’t stand up on their own).

By: shteve

shteve — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:57:09 +0000

Why brilliant?

Instantly engaging, but it’s a bit confusing and doesn’t bear much thinking.

By: Jon H

Jon H — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:31:54 +0000

Frank: try places like this if you want to know how people buy banksy art.

By: Frank Evans

Frank Evans — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:59:18 +0000

Dave, do you mind telling me where I can buy this high-priced art you mention? I wish to pander to my faux-radical persona, but this art has so far eluded my bulging wallet, as his works are usually on a wall, bridge etc and hence a commodity out of my reach (other than when I buy the entire building or road). In fact, if Mr Banksy actually did as you suggest and did it on paper instead it would be far more accessible to people with the bulging wallets, those faux-radicals your (faux?) class warrior disposition seems to take such umbridge with. Please wipe that froth from your mouth, and just enjoy the satire people such as Banksy provide us with ;-)

By: Jon H

Jon H — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:02:16 +0000

Sure it’s a real Banksy and not a clever Tesco ad?

By: mollymooly

mollymooly — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:59:23 +0000

I wish he’d used a real Tesco bag.

By: Righteous Bubba

Righteous Bubba — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:02:27 +0000

They have emphasised that the VISIBLE is the PUBLIC.

Has Banksy painted the faces of passers-by?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:50:16 +0000

The greatest contribution that Banksy, and others working in similar milieux, have made to our world is this:

They have emphasised that the VISIBLE is the PUBLIC. If you find Banksy annoying or vandalistic, ask yourself if you would prefer a big billboard with a picture of cheez whiz on it.

Didn’t think so.

By: belle le triste

belle le triste — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:35:07 +0000

what i like is even simpler—in some stretch of urban space forgotten and unloved even by those who pass it every day, here’s this unmoored little puff of exuberance, as you peer sluggishly out the bus window, in no way expecting to have your gaze held; i saw a new one yesterday in the maze of town above city road that i only go through when the not-so-comfy 394 comes before the 38: a small girl sliding down a banister blowing bubbles—no political “point” really, unless it’s that a dirty concrete surface without a picture is less cheering than one with a picture, if you like the picture

come on like this there’s a kind of gift-economy generosity to them

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:02:04 +0000

What I like about Banksy, apart from the wit, which even I admit isn’t particularly deep, is the way he sets his pieces in context. It isn’t just clever-clever grafitti plastered on a wall. It incorporates the medium and surroundings to make its point. This is a perfect example.

By: luci

luci — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:50:02 +0000

Dunno, tastes an’all. The incorporation of the stuff on the wall is cool. But the picture itself looks a little too obvious. Maybe I’m missing something…

If a piece of garbage had just gotten hung up, inadvertently, and the kids were staring up at it, suggesting a salute maybe.

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:19:48 +0000

This and his other stuff looks great. From photographs, it reminds me a little of Ernest Pignon-Ernest's Walls of Napoli, which I've never seen either (just heard the soundtrack). Though I imagine the political context is much different, since I think Pignon-Ernest is more official (and it seems he works in the studio and then puts sketches up on walls).

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:10:22 +0000

Ah yes, the defilement of private property to produce high-priced ‘art’, creating a commodity to enhance the self-worth of the rich by peddling a faux-radical chic… If there were any more internal contradictions in his pose, you’d think his head would explode. Thanks Banksy! Next time draw it on a piece of paper.

By: chris armstrong

chris armstrong — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:33:04 +0000

I like this one a lot. As an ex-Bristolian, I am not yet exhausted. The one of the guy hanging from the ‘window’ on the side of the council building was puerile, non-political, but brilliant too.

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:00:10 +0000

Ingrid, I think I’m probably suffering from Banksy-exhaustion from many years in Bristol.