Is graffiti art or vandalism? Do “artists” like Banksy take away from the essence of street
graffiti? Carissa Rice touched on these topics while speaking of graffiti artist Banksy – the
current “leader” of graffiti art. I even stumbled upon a Banksy article in the New York Times
Saturday.
This British artist has in a way revamped and celebritized graffiti which seemed to fade
away after the 80’s and early 90’s. The political and social agenda of graffiti is still there but he
adds his own witty style. But Banksy himself (or themselves) declares that he (or they) is an art
terrorist. There are differences in language and culture among other aspects between the art
world and street culture. Street art like Banksy’s graffiti is no institutionalized for this very
reason. Art schools don’t normally teach graffiti art. But people are drawn to it.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was notorious for his graffiti and SAMO tags before he started
doing shows – maybe not by the art world but definitely by those living in and on the streets
where he tagged. Rice mentioned that Banksy parallels Basquiat in some ways – going from
street art to canvas and back to the streets again. However Banksy doesn’t want the fame that
Basquiat attained. At least it doesn’t seem that way as his face is never shown nor does he attend
his shows or do interviews.
Putting the mystique aside for a moment, I saw a parallel between the works of Banksy
and that of the 1960’s artist group OBAC, later AfriCobra. For all we know Banksy could very
well be a group just like OBAC. Even though Banksy’s work is many times seen as anti-social
vandal and “crossing the border into criminality” I still think they are more like social conscious
images like OBAC’s murals during the civil rights movement.
His works in New Orleans after Katrina provide the most sufficient parallels. The images
of soldiers looting stores showcase not only Banksy’s problem with authority but also the brutal
police state in the wake of the hurricane. He also tags a rat in many of his works in New Orleans.
The rat represented those forgotten after the hurricane – the little people. The government was
supposed to protect people but instead the levees broke and many were forgotten. Banksy brings
these social and even political agendas down to the streets much like OBAC did decades ago
with murals.