On May 6th 1997, that is, 29 years ago this week, Gordon Brown announced that the Bank of England would have its independence. I would like to suggest that a year from now, on May 6th 2027 Keir Starmer, or whoever is in power, should grant the Banksy of England his independence too.
Independence from having to play along with the boringly established and politically correct viewpoints of the age.
Banksy is an Establishment Artist.
Here is a short history of Establishment Artists:
- Holbein.
- Van Dyck.
- Banksy.
Banksy is one of the oddest artists ever to have existed. Not because of his art, but because of its status in relation to the state. Banksy does not paint Charles III: well, not on easel, by commission. Instead he paints rats, i.e., what he wants, where he wants. His art is the playful sort of art associated with newspaper cartoons and magazine illustrations. It uses the stencil, and, since most of it goes on walls, it alludes to graffiti, while not being graffiti of the usual arcane and bewildering sort that fascinates us for a few millisecond while on a train. Banksy is easy-to-read. His images are realistic, more or less, and therefore deeply attractive to the average Briton, who likes, say, Kipling’s 'If', The Hay Wain and Sherlock Holmes. But, in addition, the political atmospherics are:
18th-century Enlightenment
+
1990s Britpop Globalism
+
Guardian sensibility
=
Banksy Inc. (Net worth possibly £20 million.)
Banksy is Establishment, I say. But not
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Fans of Banksy are average Britons who like ‘If’, the Hay Wain, and Sherlock Holmes? That’s an ambitious assumption, Professor.
Perhaps you might write a similar article about Bob Moran, the cartoonist you included here with “the science” painting. We love banks for his wit. Bob Moran has wit as well and conveys incredible political and moral messages in his artwork. Take a look at what Mr. Moran has produced. It is an eye opener.
So that’s what happened to Steve Wright!
Call me cynical, but its hardly “art”, its a polical statement
A talented graffiti artist. But it’s still graffiti and he’s still a plonker. Useful to “them”.
He doesn’t exist, an establishment Morozov
Art – paintings, sculptures, … – was difficult, took time and skill, until the camera was invented, so anyone could do it. Then it became just litter.
Art – music – was difficult, took time and skill, until the invention of the gramaphone, and the Hammond organ. After that came the “3 minutes of silence”
Rather more insightful than Banksy’s stuff.
Brilliant piece, one of your best!
Banksy is to satire as 2T queer is to oratory.
Imagine the confected adulation if he reaches 100 years old.
I can’t think who you might be alluding to in the light of yesterday. It makes it much worse that his talented brother died first while he has outlived his welcome by a few decades.