I’ve been a fan of Banksy’s work for years. The police with their riot gear, holding small children’s hands; the smiley faces; the innocent scenes with a casually hidden, often political, message. He may not be to everyone’s taste, most particularly the local authorities, but he is a master of his art and, indeed, a master at hiding his identity, for after several decades of what has effectively been vandalism on a grand scale who he is remains a tightly guarded secret.
That’s why his latest appearance in the media is so audacious, and so impressive. Unless you’ve been living in a news blackout for the last few days, you’ll be familiar with the spectacle that this mysterious figure has created in the heart of Bristol. Indeed, he’s taken over the City Museum and Art Gallery for his very own exhibition, which is particularly delicious from an irony perspective, but an outstanding marketing move on the part of Kate Brindley, one of the venue’s Directors. I’m just not sure they realise quite how popular this artist is in the UK, and it’s certainly going to get a whole new crowd of people taking an interest in art many of whom wouldn’t count an Art Gallery as one of their top 10 places to go.
I knew a street poet who said that he’d met Banksy once, (or was it that he’d met one of the group of artists going under the collective name of Banksy….). It wouldn’t surprise me, but for every story like that, there are a thousand more. Urban legend, man or myth, scourge of society or artist extraordinaire, I’d take Banksy’s work over Emin’s or Hirst’s any day. At least you can tell what it is.
Keep up the good work, Banksy, whoever you are.
