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The issue of whether Banksy is a "sell out" fascinates me. I mean, how is ze supposed to eat (etc) and keep producing work at such a prolific rate if most of hir work is free? And who amongst any of us is "whiter than white"? I've even witnessed people slagging off Banksy for selling prints while they were drinking a can of Coke and smoking a Marlborough!
But I suppose it's a difficult problem for any such (I dunno) "radical" (?) artists to maintain their integrity AND survive, although (IMHO) as long as such artists don't help advertise Shell, Coke, (etc), then surely their actual work far outweighs such considerations as "selling out" by doing a few record covers? Now, I know there was controversy over Banksy's involvement with Puma, but I get the impression there was more going on there than met the eye -- sorry, I'd love to explain further, but I'm duty bound not to.
I've known Banksy for a few years now (not that we're close friends or anything) and I have nothing but admiration for hir work and personage. My favourite pieces of hir work has to be the rats, and the homeless angel in the doorway.
The latest Palestine wall images are (IMHO) brilliant, as always.
(BTW, at 'Turf War' the farmers who owned the animals were on hand twenty-four hours a day, and, as they themselves commented, the pigs and cows were treated FAR batter at the exhibition than they are at (say) a slaughterhouse or at market. Indeed, the reason they were taken away early was because of Banksy's concerns over the fiercely hot weather which unfortunately coincided with the exhibition. Also, at the time, I found it ironic when an animal rights protester stood by the pens and started screaming about animal abuse, without realising that her shouting was obviously making the animals VERY distressed indeed.) |
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