davidb

what do you think about this guy banksy ? is it vandalism ?i think his muriels look great ,as hilda ogden would have put it .then again ive just been to some lock up garages where i keep a car and the graffiti vandals have struck ,makes the place seem unpleasant ,changes your perception of the place .although in the mind of the vandals that did it they would think they had as much right to do it as banksy though ! what do other members think ?

Gazza

I like his work and admire his audacity.

This one sprang up a couple of weeks ago round the corner from where I live. He erected a scaffolding tower and worked behind a tarpaulin. Immediately to the right of it is a CCTV camera! Watching the back of the Rathbone Place sorting office but clearly not watching him

DB7

If his work were merely Banksy Woz 'Ere you could describe it as vandalism but a lot of his early work was ironic social commentary and he seems to have become more political - especially on the West Bank.

batman

From what I have seen of Banksy's art he is very talented .... I think his work is very worthwhile, much more so than IMHO the over-hyped Emin and Hurst.

Don't miss out on a chance to win a rare film in Bat-Quiz 13 closing date - 31/8/8.

alan gowdy

The best graffiti is indeed art of quite a high order... but to paint pictures (or anything else) on property that you don't own and without the permission of the owner is an act of vandalism and should be treated as such by the law.

"Don't forget... one of petrol, two of meths"

Steve Crook

Do you know if he has the permission of the owner or not?

Steve

billy bentley

Banksy - A National Treasure for sure and certainly one of the U.K.'s finest artists. While Damian Hirst ponders death and money, Banksy reminds us how great it can be to be alive !

dremble wedge

Genius or vandal?

Can't he be both?

kawolski

Genius!!

Hang on a minute, lads.
I've got a great idea.

Gazza

From what I can make out, most property owners are delighted if he makes a visit! People seem willing to buy the art as well as the wall its on and pay for any reconstruction.

Pricey

The mural on the side of the Apple boutique by Dutch art group The Fool (1968) was a thing of great beauty painted with the permission of the owner. City of Westminster council had it painted over because it didn't have planning permission. I think we know who the vandals were on that occasion.

alan gowdy

My posting related to graffiti in general - not the efforts of any particular artist.

"Don't forget... one of petrol, two of meths"

Third Man

As art I like his work but ironically he now seems to stand for everything he was against. His murals go for tens of thousands at auction, his name is not known because if it was - surely he would be charged with vandalism.But yet I presume he receives the money in some sort of way for these murals that go to auction. His work has become desired and be an article of consumerism.

So as I understood it Banksy was against Capitalism his graffiti is well known for that and the art depicted the social impact it had on the areas he placed the murals but now he accepts money for his work - sounds like some sort of oxymoron to me.

Simon

billy bentley

"he now accepts money for his work" says Third Man. Was there a time when he refused it ? It's my understanding that Banksy has always had work for sale via his dealer, am I wrong ? It's also my understanding that when an artist's work sells at auction, the artist does not receive a cut of the price, qam I wrong there too ?

Third Man

..and I believe he accepts money for his published book that you can buy at most bookshops - you would think that his work is unsellable because to sell it would undermine the integrity of it.

Integrity is something that artists have implicitly and buyers of art would look at something like that when buying a piece of art. Perhaps what we are seeing here is a new breed of art collector one who really doesn't care what is behind the work but just collecting for aesthetic value, which really does undermine his work even more.

Simon