A short walk from where we’re staying, there’s a Banksy Museum.
Most of the pieces are reproductions of originals (for obvious reasons) done by a team of artists. The museum itself is a perfect space for his work. Made to look a little grungy and underground-bunker-ish.
Banksy is a temporary, contemporary artist – an activist who ‘paints out’ against capitalism, war, violence, and hate.
His pieces are stark and all carry a powerful message. Some reveal his sense of humor, while others are dark. These two pieces, for instance, are just that. Two grannies are happily knitting away sweaters bearing rebellious punk / thug slogans.
The second image is, in my opinion, the darkest of the entire exhibit. A man offers a dog with a bleeding foot, a bone; however, the bone he’s holding out is the dog’s own foot. Behind his back he hides his instrument of torture so the dog is unaware of who the man is or what his objective might be. The painting is a statement about many things – the evil and cruelty of humans, our hypocrisy, and the misguided trust that animals have in humans to do the right thing.
War is a recurring theme in his work. Banksy made the news when his work appeared on several walls around Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
He’s also spoken out against the war in Syria and Gaza, and the treatment of refugees and migrants.
Violence, non-violence or no-more-violence?
Each piece grabbed me and kept rooted for a long time.
I took in the piece as a whole and then afterwards, just focused on tiny parts, looking at the spaces between the paint, or individual spay painted parts. Tiny paintings within paintings.
To me, her nose looks like a bird in flight. The shadows creating her eyes and brow look like a war tank and heavy artillery after firing.
Banksy’s anti-capitalist art is a strong statement about where we’re heading. Perhaps he’s made enough money to last him a lifetime but as of right now, he no longer sells images of his work.
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