He’s one of the most famous artists in the world, and whereas someone like Rembrandt or Picasso displayed in galleries, ‘Banksy’ is best known for his stencils in public spaces.
Regardless, his works are hugely sought after. They yield massive dollars at auctions – anything from a $250,000 up to over a full million depending on the work. Pretty good for a man without a face.
Interestingly, he polarises opinions worldwide. Why is he so popular? Why does his tongue-in-cheek, half-ironic, half-political imagery sell for so much? The HBO-produced documentary Banksy Does New York attempts to explain this phenomenon by chronicling the pandemonium around the artist’s self-appointed New York residency in October 2013: Thirty-one days, 31 displays, 31 locations.
The works included humorous stencils using fire hydrants, or creating interactive pieces featuring the Grim Reaper riding a dodgem car in a rave. Most of these had a deeper message about war – often conveyed through satire, but they are definitely not subtle. Banksy also launches attacks on the meat industry and even the architecture of the Freedom Tower – NYC’s newest big skyscraper that replaces the Twin Towers downtown. The only thing that was certain every day of October, wherever Banksy went, chaos soon followed.
The documentary mostly uses footage filmed on phones and from online uploads as New Yorkers scrambled to follow the month-long scavenger hunt. The only pieces-to-camera interviews involved various art ‘experts’ and bloggers discussing the impact and relevance of someone like Banksy in our cultureless age. It raises the key dramatic question: Is he a righteous do-gooder or simple vandal? Is Banksy the voice of the people or a sell out?
Concurrent to the showing of each day’s piece, we are shown the stories of a few people who benefit directly from his anonymous works. An art gallery owner who literally flew to the Middle East and took some ‘Banksys’ back to America, and two working-class New Yorkers who stumble upon his rubble sphinx and decide to ‘acquire it’ for themselves and a huge cheeky payday.
Banksy’s anonymity highlights a big social dynamic that has formed in modern society through the bedlam caused by people rushing to each stencil and posting it online. The internet is now his gallery, and with every ‘share’ and ‘like’ he gets more notoriety, more than any display at a museum. It is this that highlights the genius of his idea, to embody art in everyday life, for the people to interpret or do with as they please.
Often they opt for the lottery and the pay-off if that day’s piece just happened to be on their land, others react more negatively, leaning more towards the criminal angle.
Whatever your opinion there’s no doubt that watching this documentary will spark conversation. It’s funny, cringe worthy and thought provoking – much akin to Banksy’s paintings themselves.
