When we started planning this trip, I found out that there was an exposition of works by the famous street artist, Banksy, on while we were in Paris. So, we bought tickets and Tuesday made our way to Rue Faubourg Montmartre to see it. (As an aside, there are several streets named Faubourg in Paris so it is very important to pay attention to the word following it to make sure you are in the correct part of Paris. For example, there is Rue Faubourg St. Honore, Rue Faubourg Montmartre, and Rue Faubourg St. Denis.)
By way of providing background to the artist, the following is from Wikipedia:
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world. Banksy's work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group, Massive Attack.
Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti but his public "installations" are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall they were painted on. Much of his work can be classified as temporary art. A small number of Banksy's works are officially, non-publicly, sold through an agency created by Banksy named Pest Control. Banksy's documentary film, Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. In January 2011, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the film.
Banksy began as an artist at the age of 14, was expelled from school, and served time in prison for petty crime. He is commonly believed to be Robin Gunningham, born on 28 July 1973 in Yate, near Bristol. Several of Gunningham's associates and former schoolmates have corroborated this and, in 2016, a study by researchers at the Queen Mary University of London using geographic profiling found that the incidence of Banksy's works correlated with the known movements of Gunningham.
I also read from another site that his name is purported to be Banks. So, who really knows? The following are some photos I took at the exposition, some with the explanation that accompanied the work.
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| With the Virgin Mary giving baby Jesus a bottle of toxic waste rather than milk, Banksy is perhaps implying that the peaceful harmonious connotations of religion usually come with an undercurrent of war, territorial and political strife. |
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| Kissing Coppers |
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| "Rude Copper" was Banksy's very first commercial print, released in 2002 and, like the name implies,it is quite a provocative piece with an elaborate depth of field, in which the extended hand making the rude gesture takes center stage. |
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| Evocative and affectionate at first glance, "The Girl with the Red Balloon" throws the viewer off balance after the first impression of compassion wears off; has the girl released the balloon having given up on a long-lost love or accepted that she needs to submit to social order? Or has she lost grip of society, doomed to desperately seek that one feeling that is a human being's primary need? |
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| Banksy's use of the master-slave dichotomy in reference to humans and animals, this time takes the dog listening to his Master's Voice, ready to bomb it to bits. Perhaps it was the monkeys with guns that supplied the weapon to the beast. |
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| This artwork shows a famous portrait of Winston Churchill made up into a punk rock icon with a green "tuft" of Mohican hair harks back to the May 2000 riots in London, known as "Turf Wars". A line of green grass cuts through the English bigwig, blurring the lines between sarcasm and political commentary. The clumps of grass that the protestors had dug up from Parliament Square have been delicately placed on Churchill's head. |
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| "Your mind works best when you're paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with a total clarity". |
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The contrast between the elaborate physical movements that the police exhibit when in pursuit of a criminal is enough to make this piece brilliant. However, you can also see a ridicule of the "valiant" efforts of the police in pursuing street artists, or anyone else for that matter; a caricature of the man on the street.
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| Pissing Guard |
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| Banksy's depiction of two children wearing police vests while running through water exemplifies the blend of iconic imagery and irreverent humour that only Banksy could achieve. The perfect portrayal of childhood innocence in this idyllic image of frolicking, laughing children is tarnished by the bulletproof vests reading "Police" that Jack and Jill wear for protection. Here, Banksy's disdain for the police is highlighted as he sheds light on contemporary society where innocence is all but lost. |
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| An uncanny amalgam of revolutionary violence and pacifist ardour, this work is possibly one of Banksy's most renowned. This contrast between the figure in black and white and the colourful bouquet he holds in place of an alleged Molotov cocktail makes the piece even more poignant, engendering hope in the face of constant struggle, even if may be violent. |
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| The terrifying photo of nine-year-old girl named Kim Phuc, taken during the Vietnam War (1972) is a blatant attack on consumerism and US Foreign Policy. Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald holding the little girl by the hand, almost seem arrogant in their smiles, while this poor girl with burns on her back is screaming, running, trying to get away. Two cultural icons that inadvertently smile in the face of disaster distract us, diverting our sympathy from the victim to the oppressors. |
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| "Christ with Shopping Bags" is not only a blatant attack on consumerism in general but also pokes fun at how Christmas has become one of the most important dates for mass-consumerism hysteria. Year: 2004 |
And finally, my personal favourite called: Mobile Phone Lovers, no explanation needed!!
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