“Better Out Than In”

What draws you in? Bad-asses? Secrets? Art? If so the controversial British graffiti artist, Banksy, is your man.

Banksy has been the topic of conversation this past October. Everyday this month he created a new artwork and displayed/incorporated it into different areas of NYC. Banksy is a pseudonymous British graffiti artist. He is a political and environmental activist, film director, painter, author, and critique.

Banksy follows the words of the artist, Paul Cézanne, “All pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.” Just as Paul Cézanne’s art was the transitional door from the 19^th century art to the 20^th century art, Banksy is the transitional door towards appreciating aspects of “graffiti” as a true art form. Inspector Richard Close, of the Central British NPT, said: “Graffiti is vandalism…Good art work can be appreciated… such as Banksy… None of the graffiti I have seen is of the same high standard or appropriately placed with the consent of the property owners.” The world needs Banksy to change its perspective on this art form.

In London and Bristol, England, his home country, Banksy is famous for creating stenciled graffiti fighting against environmental issues. In Abu Dis, a city on the edge of Jerusalem, separated by a wall, he was called an “art terrorist” for stenciling nine images, with political innuendo to tear down the West Bank barrier.

In Los Angeles, 2010, Banksy directed the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature, “Exit through the Gift Shop.” This film tells the story of the French immigrant, Thierry Guetta, and his obsession with street art.

Banksy has self-published four books containing pieces of his art from different places in the world along with some of his writings. In his second book Existentialism, the color version of his first black and white book Banging your Head Against a Brick Wall, he explains various reasons for his actions. He states, “ Nobody used to listen to me and I used to think that was their problem. Eventually I got to realize maybe it was the fact I was boring and paranoid…you have to wear a mask. If you want to be honest then you have to live a lie.”

Banksy’s anonymity is essential. If he were to be caught he could go to jail or worse destroy his “element of surprise,” which gives his work a measure of finesse.  Even though he works with so many people around the world, he has not been caught because of the artist’s community confidentiality agreement. If one member squeals they will be slandered and placed on a blacklist by all other artists in that neighborhood.

Steven P. Harrington, founder of the blog BrooklynStreetArt, said, “People don’t talk. To me, the more or less [people share about him] proves the kind of respect he has on the streets. If you want to damage his brand, the first thing you’d do is expose him.”

A few months ago, an artist that worked with Banksy uploaded a picture to Instagram, captioned “Me and my boy, Banksy,” in order to show off that he knew Banksy. No one was impressed. Instead, this artist was slandered by the artistic community until he took it down.

The only public recognition of meeting Banksy was an interview in 2003 with Simon Hattenstone.  Simon had the privilege to interview Banksy in a pub in Shoreditch, England. Simon described Banksy as “white, 28, scruffy casual – jeans, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. He looks like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of the Streets.” This interview was the introduction to hearing Banksy’s political views in writing and not in the form of stencils.

The New York art community did not accept this “Brit” with open arms. But Banksy has been playing the same Ben and Jerry, Cat and mouse, game with the NYPD as the rest of the art community, so they respect him.

Banksy’s called his October Fest spoof “Better Out Than In.” Every aspect of Banksy’s art challenges, in a new way, society’s standards. Its better to challenge the status quo in a loud “Out” way that will obtain attention and support than to petition in an “In” way.

Banksy’s art is for the purpose of a cause and to convey a message. His art has been sold from $60 to $200,000, depending on whose purchasing. On October 13^th Banksy had an old man sell stenciled canvases for $60 each on the street just for the hell of it.  He even tolerated bargaining from an old woman: who purchased them for half price. He creatively criticized McDonald’s by having a sculpture of a poor man shining Ronald McDonald’s shoes on October 16^th. On October 11^th Banksy disgraced factory farming by having a slaughterhouse truck filled with noise making stuffed animals sticking out the windows drive around different neighborhoods. He called this “out” artwork, “Sirens of the Lambs.” Another one of his ingenious oeuvres was an article he submitted to the New York Times on the 27^th, which they refused to print. This article was called Skyscraper. It depicted Banksy’s view on how the state has decided to fight terrorism symbolically.  He thinks we should be making a tower to the sky and not just a tall-ish tower.

Banksy believes, “If you want to say something and have people listen, you have to wear a mask.” When he was featured in Time magazine 2010, 100 most influential people list along with Barak Obama and Lady Gaga he sent a picture in with a paper bag on his head, recyclable of course.