Banksy’s artistic merit

[Misanthroper]

With the theft of a Bansky art piece this week, and the appearance of a few more around London, I seriously had to wonder why these pretty rudimentary drawings attract so much attention and are valued so highly.

I don’t propose to be an art expert, and completely understand that the value of art is in the eye of the beholder with often a lot more going on that isn’t obvious to the uninformed like me, but these are just basic shapes of a cat stretching or something, it’s hardly like we’re witnessing true artistic genius and if anyone else not named Bansky went around painting basic shadow art on stuff they get fined, not celebrated.

What am I missing?

[48k]

The value is caused by the the hype around them not the artistic merit of the pieces themselves.

See also: the price of a steak if some Turkish bloke has sprinkled salt on it off his elbow.

[gotoPzero]

Because of people like this...

[Bluevanman]

Aren't they just pre-made stencils and an a aerosol ?

[Arrivalist]

Tracy Emin - My Bed.

Nuff said.

[Promised Land]

Bluevanman said:

Aren't they just pre-made stencils and an a aerosol ?

That’s how I thought they were done, his previous ones having a few stencils for each shade of colour.

His work though is more about the point being made than the art itself.

What I find staggering especially with these new ones dotted around the smoke is that there is no cctv, mobile phone footage of the person/ group doing them, a lot of these would require ladders/ scaffold or a cherry picker to do so how come not one person or camera has caught them in the act?

That dish one that got pinched wasn’t a real dish connected I read so purely a prepainted prop that someone then had away which oddly is on film.

Edited by Promised Land on Sunday 11th August 16:10

[MitchT]

48k said:

The value is caused by the the hype around them not the artistic merit of the pieces themselves.

This.

I love art but I do agree that most of what makes an artist popular is hype, marketing, being in the right place at the right time and a bit of luck.

When I was in York recently I saw a shop which was one of a chain owned by an artist. She sells originals, prints, postcards, printed cushions, mugs... you name it, she sells it with her paintings printed on. There are many more artists who are every bit as good but can't catch a break. She's good but her success is down to marketing more than talent.

When I was in St Ives in Cornwall last June I visited a week long exhibiton of a local artist whose work was amazing. I bought one of his prints and would have bought the original if it had still been available, yet he told me that he'd only really been able to commit his time to art after he retired from work as he couldn't make enough to live on so couldn't give up work to do it. Meanwhile, a gallery a gallery ten minutes' walk away was charging thousands for things that looked like they'd been done by a five year old with crayons. Marketing and hype beating talent.

Any one of thousands of graffiti artists could have been Banksy. Like the "hawk tuah" girl it's all down to striking the right chord with the right people at the right moment and then getting the right management so you can milk it for all it's worth.

[okgo]

You’ve described about 99.9% of art.

I think it’s mostly market making and building a reputation - which is why galleries take such a big cut of shows they put on for artists (circa 50% I’m told by a guy I know who sells his art for a quite lot of money and is represented by galleries globally)

It seems like art these days is basically just a hype machine. And once your name means something you can command some big numbers. The skill of much of it isn’t the interesting part I imagine, it’s the vision. As per some of Banksy’ stuff, it’s the placement and the timing that is the art IMO.

[BunkMoreland]

There's some humour and originality to Banksy art. But most of it is student politics wrapped up as something deep by the smooth brains. Much like the same people think that Stephen Fry is some kind of super intelligent man


https://www.castlefineart.com/uk/art/billy-connoll...


£1500 for a crap drawing by Billy Connolly. Yeah, no thanks!


I'd rather have a balloon dog sculpture for £1250


https://www.castlefineart.com/uk/art/whatshisname/...

[Nomme de Plum]

Art is a joyous thing and comes in many forms.

We have a local artist that has an old sea defence wall which she repaints every year with a slightly different but always fun themes. Tourists stop and look and usually leave smiling.

My retired research scientist neighbour makes busts of a person's head by request. They're fantastic.

How can one not appreciate the art from likes of Anthony Gormley, David Hockney, Barbara Hepworth or maybe Grayson Perry and I see nothing wrong with being challenged by the likes of Damien Hurst or Tracey Emin. I find Banksy's works really interesting.

Both the Tate and Tate modern along with their regional galleries are worth a visit along with the numerous Paris galleries.

I never quite got Picasso and my Daughter loves Dali and has number of his pieces (prints) around her house. Dali museum in Figuras NE Spain is worth a visit if you're nearby.

[egor110]

It's also worth getting on a street art walking tour in London or Bristol , there are so many different kinds of street art.

[Promised Land]

BunkMoreland said:

There's some humour and originality to Banksy art. But most of it is student politics wrapped up as something deep by the smooth brains. Much like the same people think that Stephen Fry is some kind of super intelligent man


https://www.castlefineart.com/uk/art/billy-connoll...


£1500 for a crap drawing by Billy Connolly. Yeah, no thanks!

You’re not buying a ‘crap drawing’ as you put it, you’re buying a giclee print, one of maybe 250 or so I haven’t checked. The actual original if it has been released will be 10 times that or more.

[gotoPzero]

Friends of mine have bought a few of those prints, paid thousands... they seem to think its going to be worth millions in years to come.

[CammyN]

To each their own, we cannot all like the same thing, some like the Fighting Temeraire, some like Jackson Pollock.

[Louis Balfour]

gotoPzero said:

Friends of mine have bought a few of those prints, paid thousands... they seem to think its going to be worth millions in years to come.

Might be right.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9358vpz8zwo

"The City of London Police said it was aware of "criminal damage" to the police box and were liaising with City of London Corporation which owns it."

They know who he is, and where he lives. It is only a matter of time before they arrest him and put an end to his antics; pushing up the value of his work.

[119]

Louis Balfour said:

Might be right.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9358vpz8zwo

"The City of London Police said it was aware of "criminal damage" to the police box and were liaising with City of London Corporation which owns it."

They know who he is, and where he lives. It is only a matter of time before they arrest him and put an end to his antics; pushing up the value of his work.

Do they actually know who it is?

[bad company]

I don’t dislike Banksy’s work but don’t get what all the fuss is about. For me it’s no better than ok.

Bet like all the Taylor Swift hype.

[Randy Winkman]

Why is any art deemed to have value? These for instance?












I like Banksy - but dont have to analyse why. Though I do think that seeing things for real is important.

[Louis Balfour]

[redacted]

[21TonyK]

I'd place more on value a stencilled Bansky cat than the 30M quid Rembrant I was looking at yesterday which only existed because cameras hadn't been invented.