BANKSY- Dont Believe the HYPE!!!
Although I like the works of fellow writer? street artist? Provocateur? Banksy, I am some what puzzled about the hype surrounding him so I went to his NYC opening, which was or wasnt sanctioned by him. Since I would like to believe that he is still renegade I will assume this is the clever workings of opportunists who are banksying on the sudden rise of his valued art. The works were what they were, slick commentary illustrated sarcastically by low tech means. The show is small and not well laid out and is not cohesive, it was random which leads me to believe this was as sold to the public- acquired work being resold. His wit is by far is his greatest asset only matched by his daring to do shit others wont. I would like to think that if he did have a real show in NYC he would have come here undercover and really put some public work out there to provoke us. The show is nothing more than works we have seen already, I wasnt even sure what to expect considering his track record is mainly on the streets not in galleries. I was turned off by the fact that the gallery had a pile of his shirts on the floor and made people get on their knees to look at them and only to be told that they were $50 bucks!!!! I ran into my man who nicked 2 of them out of spite! I wont mention who else made off with one. Back in the day artist gave shit away like candy, it served to support the show and hype up the artist, but these Chimps aint havin it, this is strictly business folks. I aint mad but I aint no fool. Or maybe this is all a part of the sick joke, that I am not aware of.
Posted on December 01, 2007 at 11:39 PM | Previous Entry | Next Entry | Entry List | Email Entry | Digg
Responses to this entry
There are 13 total comments about this entry. The most recent comment was posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago...
stop hating. 50$ shirts aint nothing. you been to the mall lately?
"This type is way too small to read.”
Press control and scroll out and this should change the text size.
(ps I could do with an invite - if anyone would could hook me up please email me.)
Not hating read the fine print! The point is more about the hustle we get put on in our culture/game, what ever that is to you.
Formally on Banksy’s Website:
Frequently asked questions
Do you sell t-shirts?
i don’t make shirts because it would feel like the painting was a guerilla marketing campaign for a fashion label.
i’m glad i’m not alone in my frustration. i don’t think this was a joke by banksy, because in all honesty, the dude has much more wit than what that shit show was composed of today. this was basically a bunch of people making a quick buck off of their own collections. it wasn’t an opening, it was a fucking yard sale. all they did was put some prints in some frames, and hang them on the wall. then with a pencil, they wrote absurd prices next to them. what was with the lame ass red paint splatter? did they let an 8 year old set this show up? i’m also glad to hear someone walked away with some shirts. i don’t really know much about the chelsea gallery scene, but is that gallery carrying any rep? it’s a shitty layout, and after this, should be boycotted.
there was a “not banksy” poster pasted outside the door of the gallery. i should have taken that warning, and just left instead of standing in the cold for an hour.
Mare,not for nothing but it sounds like your hating on this guy.are you jealous of his financial success or all the attention he’s getting?not that im a fan of this guy,his whole formula is a cheap gimmick that sheep eat up.in 5 or 10 years you will not see his name in the streets just like 20 years after you started writing we dont see your name anywhere.not attacking you or anything
but an honest question maybe you or somone else could answer is why do all of these graff “artists” marketing themselves as legends getting flown around to galleries and sneaker shows and all this stuff,why is it that none of you actually bomb?
people wrote for a few years a long time ago and and were inactive for 15 -20 years and are still posing on the net and in mags with spray cans.is it a lack of interest as you get older,fear of arrest or what?doesnt take much energy to do a few fillins on the street here and there.especially over seas with a clean rapsheet.
delete my comment if you want but i would appreciate an answer ,just an honest question.
peace out to all true writers like RD,VFR,MQ,etc...who actually “DO” graff,year after year.
not to come to anyone’s defense, but i don’t think Mare is hating on this guy at all. i think he’s attacking more so the gallery, or people, behind this scam. if you had gone to the show, you’d see what’s he’s talking about above. it’s people being opportunists, at a very fiscally feasible time in this artist’s career. the show was promoted, in a sense, like banksy’s first opening in NYC. then you get there, and it’s just a yard sale.
Re- Last Comment. Get it clear it aint hating on his financials, read the fine print. I think what needs to be understood is that there is room for everyone to make something of themselves and their art. To me Banksy getting paid and getting up on the streets and Galleries is part of the complex evolution of the Game, what corrupts it are the Opportunists. WE all are entitled to get paid! At the very least no one can dispute that we earned it by putting in the work. Todays kids have the luxury history and what was already laid out for them, so of course its natural for them to run with it and make it their own, be it a design shop, label or fine art.
Most “Legends” you speak of DO NOT even consider themselves legends, True Legends are the ones of older stature and accomplishments, people like Stay High, Taki 183, Noc 167 etc. Us cats are after the fact. The marketing you speak of is the praise and appreciation of those who wanna get with us. You may be too young to really understand the matruring process of an OG, so let me drop a pearl, this is 2007 not 1978 the reason why it is irrelavant to hit up again like a 15yr old is because there is this thing called Manhood. What was done is done, yall can pick up the scraps and piece it together. Some like myself pushes the culture and the art forward in keeping with the legacy I inherited. As for the OG comebacks-Trust me Id rather see see FDT56, Wasp1, Riff 170 still putting it down than have them fade out into history to me they are way more important to the culture than the writers you mentioned. Hands down. These cats coming back were the backbone of this culture you eat off of so it is only right we respect them for that. Also take a close look at my man Kets case and think about the repercussions. Question appreciated and answered.
Yes, Mare, I totally agree. Being a huge fan of Banksy and his clever pranks and political messages, I was extra eager to see this exhibit! I was super psyched to have the chance to attend the preview on Saturday night… Going off of the huge show he had last year in Los Angeles with the pink elephant and original artworks, I was disappointed to see that most (maybe all?) of the work displayed was already owned prints, on loan for the the exhibit. (As my man and I were leaving, a lady outside mentioned to us that she owned 3 of the pieces on display.) Plus, there was no new body of work, I had already seen about 90% of what was there. And, yes- I was one of the idiots on the floor searching for a t-shirt in my size for almost 5 minutes, the whole time thinking they were free! And, yes- I threw them back into the pile.
Definitely seems to be some marketing/PR scheme to raise the value of his artwork. We’ve seen and read what Banksy is capable of so I think it’s safe to assume this was not a show where he brought his A-game. It didn’t come across like he even cared at all.
Still a fan waiting on Banksy’s first NYC show.
hey “Paz” --your comment was “mad” disrespectful, and was the furthest thing from “mad” smarts. i don’t want to bring any bullshit onto your blog Mare, but this kid’s whole comment was bullshit and ignorant. no matter how much you say you weren’t attacking, your shit came off as rude and disrespectful.
I can actualy vouch for Mare 139 bombing, A. cos he painted some stuff with me in London… and B. cos he sent me flix of the walls he was doing in Berlin a few weeks after…
Get your facts straight before you start generalising about things and people you know nothing about.
JUST WANT TO THANK MARE FOR THOSE KIND WORDS.
FDT56 AND THE FAMILY, HOY56, YAZ56, TINE ONE, KID56, M56, CLYDE
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