“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
One of the few quotes from the graffitist / street artist Banksy. Banksy, originally from Bristol, UK, has sprayed his art all across the world; from London, New Orleans, Sydney, San Francisco, and Bethlehem. Banksy has refrained from revealing his true identity and creates his artwork simply for its own sake, although some of his graffiti art has been removed, wall and all, and sold at auctions for hundreds of thousands. Just as his above quote would allude to, Banksy’s art addresses many fundamental issues in today’s society: poverty, war, capitalism, materialism and government.
One notable recent Banksy piece is the one pictured above, painted in New York City as a response to the current financial crisis. The statement “Let them eat crack” is a reference to the quote often (falsely) attributed to Marie Antoinette “Let them eat cake”, her supposed arrogant response to the bread riots during the French Revolution era. Banksy paints a rat (a popular subject in his art) to represent a business executive. Banksy’s strong critique of the attitudes of business executives towards the suffering of the general public, especially the lower class, in this economical crisis reminded me of Michael Moore’s critique of GM executives in his documentary “Roger and Me.”
Here are a few more Banksy works that address issues pertaining to the economy and society:
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