A Letter from Banksy-

Failing to see the arguments of the Banksy haters here.

He makes money from his art. And so? Why shouldn't he?
He uses stencils. Granted, it's easier than aerosols, but look at Turner prize winners, somebody bisects a cow and another presents her bed. All about the interpretation.

I'm guessing a lot of the hate from other street artists stems from a bit of jealousy. A lot of them probably feel their work is better and know they will never gain the same kind of fame and fortune.

I'm a fan of both Banksy and Robbo, and anybody else who makes the boring concrete jungles a little bit more interesting, My favorite street artist has to be Justin Beever.

www.julianbeever.net...

reply to post by resoe26


Bansky can "rant" all he wants. He should have no problem when someone decides to cover his art, with theres either.

Especially if its better.

reply to post by Ginga


we arent in disagreement with him selling his artwork ! not in the slightest , everyone loves getting paid !

graffiti and street art is anti establishment to begin with , yet banksy as far as I know has never spoke out against the baltant hypocracy of the local councils and or government when it comes to making graffiti and street art a recognised artform in the eyes of the law yet his art is protected whilst the rest of the artists he shares streets with are buffed ! Simply because he has been endorsed by the media and celebrities !

People dislike him not through jealousy but through disdain towards his general attitude to people of the same circles I know people who are far more talented and far more original than Banksy and they are just slowly after maybe 20 years of constant battles with Glasgow council to get some form of appreciation for their artform!
and yet Glasgow the city of culture still doesnt have one legal wall !

Banksy with his position of influence would be able to change that , but he cares more about his anonymity than cultural and artistic progress for the artform, he is selfish

Every graffiti writer I know has painted both legal and illegal walls and been buffed and they havent changed their attitude towards the culture ! Im pretty sure that once he started out he was for the same reasons painting like everyone else to get up ! now I think its slightly different and thats why people dislike him in the circles

reply to post by sonnny1


Is usually the case ! i've seen a few flicks of Banksys stuff getting done over within next 24 hours of his stuff going up! and thems the breaks in the graffiti world as many of us know !

Ads are absolutely disgusting and advertisers have far crossed the line of ethics and moral. (Did they ever obey it?)

Whenever I hear that nestle chocolate ad ending with "...because my mommy loves me..." I feel urge to find the one who invented this slogan and make him listen to all the world's children crying "you didn't buy it to me, so you don't love me anymore" in endless loop until his ears bleed.

How much of a moron should one be to blow this low? These people value nothing but money.

Anyway, Banksy expressed it much better!

Originally posted by Ginga
I'm guessing a lot of the hate from other street artists stems from a bit of jealousy. A lot of them probably feel their work is better and know they will never gain the same kind of fame and fortune.

No jealousy from us here. Maybe from others out in the streets...
Thing is, anyone can obtain fame and possible fortune from graff... You just have to GET UP on some #.
And when I mean get up, I mean destroy.

That's how any graff artist gets recognition. By being UP everywhere. Which is exactly how Banksy got recognized. Thing is, he is a perfect example of a biter. And goes over peoples #

I've been amazed by Banksy's work for a while now, it's just stunning how he can convey they messages he does. I guess a picture really is worth a thousand words. He's even inspired some local artists in my area to attempt the same type of thought-provoking communication. Simply amazing how much of a difference one person with no face can make.

reply to post by sapien82


Fair point I guess I never really gave that much thought to the legal implications of it - just enjoyed the imagery - and how because its Banksy its ok to paint on walls, but for others not. It's a strange one really - here's a guy who challenges the establishment with his art and gets lauded for it, but for those just doing simple tags they may end up in court.

Weird.

Great! He is a fantastic man. I love Banksy. He got me into graffiti/street art

S&F!

I also named my rat Banksy ^_^

reply to post by Ginga


Therein lies the rub , you cant have graffiti and street are , huge wall masterpieces and full murals and amazing stencil art and legal commissions without the tags and throw ups !

Its all part of the same parcel , graffiti and murals came from tagging !
its the basis of how graffiti artists develop their style by writing characters of the alphabet and eventually developing their own style

one of my friends an older graffiti artist now well into his 40's has developed an amazing style and also created his own typeface from his handstyle , he still paints but more in a legal comission basis , and teaches graphic design

Banksy like many others has bitten Blek le Rats style and made no attempt to hide that fact and rid the train to fame because he didnt play by the rules ! - yes there are rules to graffiti the unwritten code !

reply to post by ParanoidAmerican


Eh, you have it backwards. You're talking about Mr. Brainwash NOT Bansky.

Again, I think those of you who have seen Exit Through The Giftshop... you're thinking of Mr. Brainwash (the head douche of the movie) and NOT Bansky. Banksy was the one in the darkened light talking about Br. Brainwash.

personally I always thought it was pretty obvious they were the same person..the pics here do seem to indicate as much.

Mr Brainwash and Banksy

Advertising will always will insult our intelligence, because it generally seems to apply to the "lowest common denominator". It's among so many other reasons why I might be amongst the few dozen 21 year old's in this country who don't prescribe to television and general media, at all. Wasting so many precious hours of your life cycling through it all, it really does cripple your potential.

reply to post by the secret web


It is

Advertising is very useful to me.

I am using the concept of advertising for what it should mean. A RED SIGNAL.

If it's advertised, don't buy it.
Doesn't matter if advertised by corporations to sell their goods, or advertised by other sources to buy their
bu!!sh!t and lies.

If advertised in ANY way, stay away from it.

Taking the concept of advertisement and using it against THEIR purpose will help you to make better personal decisions, better consumer decisions.
It will help you to buy healthier, better informed and save money.

YOUR CHOICE !!!

banksy is a shill helping the new world order. I dont trust him one bit. So what frickin copy right is artistic
control.Now he wants to give this # to the masses as if its not already in our faces 24/7. Banksy is an con-artist. And for the record the elite just adore him, they buy his art constantly. Infact didnt they buy hip hop too?!

BANK SEE - BRAINWASH. These idiots are planted there.

Everyone realises that the worlds rich has the wealth to end world poverty right?

reply to post by CB6699


falling into the anti "blank" identity is just as dangerous as falling for advertisments (law of polarity), its all about discernment, if I have a service to offer and want to share it, the consumer should be smart enough to see it for what it is rather then outright buy it or ignore it.

Originally posted by Ginga
I'm guessing a lot of the hate from other street artists stems from a bit of jealousy. A lot of them probably feel their work is better and know they will never gain the same kind of fame and fortune.

You are guessing correctly.

It's kind of the result of our absurd valuation for celebrities. None of them warrant the praise we heap upon them, but we want it for ourselves anyway.

Originally posted by ParanoidAmerican
Banksy is a joke in the street art world, he road a fad a then created "art" from others works for profit. Watch Exit Through The Gift Shop to see the artists Banksy stole from and how he capitalized on the movment to get rich not spread a message.
Shepard Fairey
Invader
Those are artists, after watching that Doc which was made by Banksy I lost a lot of respect for him.

Although I do agree with what he is saying here...my opinion is the same...

edit on 28-1-2013 by ParanoidAmerican because: (no reason given)

Dude...Banksy is the reason that movie even exists. I think you need to watch it again. The main character you are referring to who stole all the art is not Banksy, he is Thierry Guetta. Banksy is not a joke in the street art world, he is a legend. He didn't steal his works, he created iconic images that no one had seen before.

Please rewatch this movie and take note that the crazy little French man is not Banksy, and that Banksy directed that film, and that he also got an Academy Award nomination for the film.

So you might want to reconsider your loss of respect.