Comment: "Banksy's Art" lacks the wisdom and hard truths that make this controversial artist memorable | Notepad

2021-11-25 03:06:48 By : Ms. Joa Huang

How do you hold an exhibition of living artists not related to your exhibition? Moreover, does the exhibition where the representative who patronizes them says "may be nonsense" is disrespectful to the artist?

These questions and many more came to my mind. When previewing the new "Banksy Art" exhibition at the Art Palace, the exhibition opened on Monday, November 22, and the exhibition will last until February 27.

Banksy is the nickname of an anonymous British street artist who rose to fame in Bristol in the 1990s, and in the 2000s for his ironic political murals and artistic stunts and the 2010 documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" "And famous all over the world. A manifesto of his anti-consumer art philosophy.

Recently, Banks made headlines when his 2006 painting "Girl with Balloons" was resold-torn apart by its mechanized frame at an auction in 2018, it was initially sold for $1.4 million. In October, the remains of this work were renamed "Love in the Trash Can" and sold again for $25.4 million, setting an artist's record. Last month, actor Christopher Walken drew a special painting for a mouse mural by Banksy, who was filming the BBC TV series "The Outlaws." This is exactly this one. A stunt that the artist himself may recognize.

In San Francisco, the latest version of the traveling exhibition showcased more than 80 works from private collections—mostly prints. It is not authorized by the artist, and the admission fee is close to 40 US dollars (and the VIP package of more than 100 US dollars), and it is fair to ask whether Banksy’s preference for public art and anti-capitalist spirit are in an exhibition that profited from it. He got respect for his work without his consent.

To put it bluntly, this is not in line with the artist's preferences.

Steve Lazarides, the original organizer of the show and Banksy's former agent, admitted this in an interview with Time Out Melbourne in 2016, saying that the artist "may be very annoying about it" .

Banksy representative Pest Control did not respond to The Chronicle's request for comment.

Banks is an artist whose work greatly benefits from the background. The exhibition attempts to provide something by depicting the timeline of his career, from the artist’s "birth" in the street art world of Bristol to today’s break. Recorded sales.

For those who are not familiar with his work, it provides an educational aspect from which even long-term followers can learn. His most popular works are included in the chart, including a mural project commenting on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, his theme park parody "Dismaland" in 2015, and pranks that added his work to Disney parks and major museums.

Reading and watching the mayfly related to the works in this section makes viewers want to see more from these projects, but given the many location-specific natures, this is not what the exhibition can provide.

It is commendable that the North American producer of the exhibition, Starvox, did not remove the mural from the original location of the exhibition, but relied on the certified collection of collectors who received loan compensation. However, although the design of the exhibition attempts to differ from the gallery-style white box space through its moody lights, dark walls and maze-like paths, the exhibition ultimately has more carnival appeal than an art exhibition.

In addition, when presented as a mural, the art on display loses many things that make it work. Many of Banksy's most famous works, including "Girl with Balloons", have only been shown in print. "The Battle of the Territory", depicting Winston Churchill and Mohawk; "Flower Thrower", which originally appeared as a mural in Jerusalem, depicting a masked Palestinian throwing a bouquet of flowers like a Molotov cocktail; and "Unbeatable Feeling", showing Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald’s holding hands with Pan's Jinfu. Pan's Jinfu was the screaming napalm victim in the Nick Ute Pulitzer Prize-winning photo during the Vietnam War. Repeated display, with There are subtle color changes in prints.

Although the image itself is powerful, in these cases, more is less. Rather than expanding the ideas behind the art, it is better to show multiple versions together, which painfully reduces the work into a commodity.

A section dedicated to the “stunts” of Banksy’s art. For example, he used Princess Diana’s face instead of Queen Elizabeth to print fake British currency, and a fake CD and new liner notes instead of Paris Hilton’s first album ( Collaboration with Grammy Awards-winning American producer Danger Mouse) is more effective. The hanging plexiglass installation with the artist's "flying copper" template is also visually attractive. But when you see it towards the end of the show, you have faced many versions of the image of the winged policeman with Harvey Bauer's yellow smiley face, so that this piece feels meaningless.

When you leave "The Art of Banks", you will not only pass through a gift shop that sells $60 T-shirts, but also through a photo zone made for social media, where you can place yourself in Banks’s Some works. Of course, Banksy's work can be effectively displayed in a respectful way, without his official involvement here-and without the moment of posting on Instagram.

Whether capitalism should exist in the art world is not a question for me to argue; it applies whether you are talking about the art market, a non-profit organization that charges admission fees to fund its work, or a tourist attraction for profit. But I think it's fair to debate whether it must be as rude as in "Banksy's Art".

What I want from any show dedicated to Banksy is the wit, surprise, and harsh social truth about the artist's fame. Sadly, even in so many works by the artist, none of these elements are on display.

"The Art of Banks": As of February 27. $29.99-$39.99; VIP Flex, $79.99. Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon St., SF banksyexhibit.com

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