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New Banksy animal graffiti is appearing in London: Is he making a social comment?

 

New Banksy graffiti is popping up in London, and a recent article in The Guardian discusses the impact of these works: The Guardian. Banksy is clearly making a statement, but is it simply to say, “Lighten up, the world is too serious?” I think the meaning of art varies for everyone and serves as a way to spark wider conversations.

The spontaneity of his artwork and the randomness of the locations bring moments of delight to the ordinary daily life of London residents and visitors. However, it’s clear that Banksy carefully selects these locations, and his message, though not always obvious, is deliberate. Then, opportunistic capitalists either try to make money by removing the art, or it’s labeled as an eyesore and destroyed. Maybe Banksy expects this reaction and is subtly criticizing our corrupt capitalist system.

Like other graffiti artists, Banksy is bringing art directly to the public. Many people don’t have access to art galleries or don’t want to visit them because they can seem elitist. The sense of wonder and exploration has been lost for many. The One Percent has reduced many people to just existing, aiming to keep them unenlightened and uncritical, as such people won’t challenge the status quo. Urban graffiti and performance art have the potential to awaken people’s curiosity and inspire change. If this is Banksy’s goal, he deserves recognition.

Who is Banksy? We don’t know his real name or what he looks like, which only adds to the power of his work. Like much of his graffiti, these new pieces mix humor with social commentary. The animals he uses are clever—I especially like the one with pelicans eating the fish on the sign of a fish and chips restaurant.


 Image courtesy of the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20l71yyxp1 

The underlying interpretation of graffiti was previously discussed in another one of my blogs, The Urban Flâneur Guidebook (https://urbanflaneruguidebook.blogspot.com/). One article that relates to the topic of this current blog is titled “Graffiti: Art, Political/Social Statement, Vandalism, Meaningless Tagging, Violation of Property Rights?” (https://urbanflaneruguidebook.blogspot.com/2012/12/graffiti-art-vandalism-meaningless.html).  Graffiti has a place in the urban environment and is sometimes subtly or blatantly political.  It is always a statement.

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