Blog Post #1

By Street Artist: Banksy

I see art everywhere I go. Living in New York, our most famous form of art is graffiti. It is hard to miss a wall covered in letters we can barely read or paintings that have a deeper meaning. This particular art piece is by a well known street artist named Banksy (located in South Bronx). Graffiti is illegal, although many find it to be artistic, and is part of our culture in New York. Another well known location of graffiti art is a place called 5pointz in Queens. The walls are all covered in graffiti, and is a place where aerosol artists from around the globe painted colorful pieces. 5pointz was painted over not too long ago by the owners of the building.

The form of graffiti art attracts everyone. It gives the viewer a chance to see colors and gives the viewer a different perspective. This is what I think. Banksy's art can refresh our vision and see the world in a new way. In the picture above, we see what seems to be a little kid doing graffiti, and a butler of some sort holding the spray cans near him. We all know that since graffiti is illegal, the people who do graffiti are hated by the community for vandalizing their property. They are treated poorly, having them arrested or pay certain fees for their 'wrong' doing. In Banksy's art, it's the total opposite. He's portraying a different idea that graffiti artists should be treated like royalty. Thanking them for bringing upon us a more colorful city rather than looking at dull buildings and pollution everywhere. He's trying to show that artists should be treated with respect, and that people should appreciate creativity.

Banksy's art can have different reasons on why they're made. It could be to record and commemorate the artsits of New York, giving them the respect they deserve for their talent. A lot of his art also constructs meaningful images and forms. Banksy is known for showing a message to the public, a message that isn't clear in his pictures when you first see it, so it makes you think about what is he trying to imply. Is he trying to change the world? Or just want the people in it to see it differently? That's when you appreciate someone's art that it can actually take your mind to where the artist wants it to be.

By: Banksy