THOMPSONSPF10RESEARCH

I have learned a lot from Banksy from the time I have spent researching him and believe I will continue to learn from him as he grows as an artist. His work is political and reaches his intended audience. He devotes and risks everything into creating his work. His more recent work with film has made the biggest impact on me, specifically his reappropriation of the Simpsons show which can be found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1iplQQJTo. Dealing with popular culture I believe he is raising awareness and forcing people to confront the direction in which the world is going. I also believe he is trying to inspire hope into his viewers. His paintings speak volumes to me about how important it is for me to frame my work in a way that confronts my viewers in an unexpected and unavoidable manner. Banksy leaves me jaw dropped after having taken a second look at his work. I first came across his book Wall and Piece in the VCU Barnes and Noble book store several years ago and found his work to be very creative. Now looking at his work and comparing it to my own, I have realized how important of a role an artist can play in society. I strive to contribute in a positive manner to society through awareness and Banksy’s work is an inspiration and mentor to achieve a higher level of effectiveness.

Banksy is a British graffiti artist or street artist whose work is politically charged and often deals with current world issues. His identity is unconfirmed and he remains unknown to this day. He has made fake Paris Hilton CDs, hung paintings in galleries without permission, painted on the Israeli barrier wall, and made a film. His work he feels is the highest level of art.

“You are accused by the graffiti community of selling them out? How do you plead?” -Ossian Ward

“It's hard to know what "selling out" means - these days you can make more money producing a run of anti-McDonald's posters than you can make designing actual posters for McDonald's.

I tell myself I use art to promote dissent, but maybe I am just using dissent to promote my art. I plead not guilty to selling out. But I plead it from a bigger house than I used to live in.” – Banksy

Ward, Ossian “Banksy Interview” Time Out London  Mar 1 2010: http://www.timeout.com/london/art/article/863/banksy

“How do you decide what commercial projects to work on?” – Shepard Fairey

“I’ve done a few things to pay the bills, and I did the Blur album. It was a good record and it was quite a lot of money. I think that’s a really important distinction to make. If it’s something you actually believe in, doing something commercial doesn’t turn it to shit just because it’s commercial. Otherwise you’ve got to be a socialist rejecting capitalism altogether, because the idea that you can marry a quality product with a quality visual and be a part of that even though it’s capitalistic is sometimes a contradiction you can’t live with. But sometimes it’s perfectly symbiotic, like the Blur situation.” – Banksy

“The redistribution of the wealth then allows you to have that freedom to put work on the street without the pressure of having to sell a thousand cheap canvases – work that’s free and accessible. It really means that the art objects, the canvases, only really play into the people that think in an elitist way and have the money. So really, it kind of balances out. That’s an issue that a lot of artists have. They believe that their work should be accessible to a lot of people, and that actually is the opposite of the way the art world works.” – Shepard Fairey

“The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak. And modern art is a disgrace – never have so many people used so much stuff and taken so long to say so little. Still, the plus side is it’s probably the easiest business in the world to walk into with no talent and make a few bucks.” – Banksy

Fairey,Shepard “Banksy” Swindle http://swindlemagazine.com/issue08/banksy/

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