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Common Knowledge

Other names: Robin Banksy
Robin Banks
Birthdate: 1974
Gender: male
Occupations: artist
graffiti artist
Nationality: UK
Places of residence: Bristol, England (probably)
Map Location: UK

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Discussions

The Simpsons and Banksy in Pro and Con (October 2010)

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41 reviews

gbsallery 136 reviews

Wall and Piece by Banksy

Witty satirical chronicler of the zeitgeist, or skilled self-publicist who just likes drawing on things? I suspect Banksy of being both, and that combination produces works of brilliance - conveniently collected and lavishly presented in this particular volume.

The brief accompanying text is well-written (a couple of spelling mistakes notwithstanding) and very illuminating, providing some context to the creative process - without reducing the air of mystery that surrounds the work. I was show more expecting the book to be entertaining: indeed, it is one of the few art books which have made me laugh out loud, repeatedly. What I was not prepared for was the emotional range of the works - the pieces in Palestine, combined with the "manifesto" at the end, were surprisingly moving.

Thoroughly enjoyable. show less

Nov 23, 200929 other reviews

bringbackbooks 1,864 reviews

Wall and piece by Banksy

Added later: I found it quite moving, his description of being drawn to graffiti the outside of the walls imprisoning the Palestinians and being told off in no uncertain terms by the inhabitants. To beautify the walls is to insult them. Of course. Obvious when you think of it.

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I'm loving this, of course. And it's not that I disagree, exactly, with his messages, but a dominant one is this idea that

The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the

companies that scrawl their giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff.

Well, okay, but. There is lots of really clever, funny, aesthetically pleasing advertising out there and lots of crap graffiti.

I like the following pictures, taken recently near where I live. I don't find the advertising displeasing juxtaposed with the graffiti. In fact, I don't understand why I'm supposed to find the graffiti pleasing either absolutely or relatively. Banksy's stuff is pictures which either contain words or read like words. I don't see why it is comparable to the first three of these pictures and nor do I see why these three are supposed to represent something more acceptable than the last.

I think blank space is as important as silence. I don't understand why we have a desperate need to fill them up.

Later: and I'm not very happy about this either:

Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fill concert halls and cinemas every day, we read novels by the millions and buy records by the billions. We the people, affect the making and the quality of most of our culture, but not our art.

The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the success fo Art. Only a few hundred people in the world have any real say. When you go to an Art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires.

Sorry, Banksy, but this is bull. There is a literary canon. There is a notion of 'classical music', both of which are exclusive in exactly the same way you complain about Art.

Just as there is popular music and popular writing, both looked down upon by their respective canons, so too in Art. There is a vast amount of popular art, including graffiti, including cartoons, including street art. People do that, they buy pictures being sold on the side of the road and they love them. They think they have purchased art. The mere fact that the governors of the Tate do not think so is neither here nor there. show less

Jun 16, 202029 other reviews

gbill 1,029 reviews

Wall and Piece by Banksy

“The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the success of Art. Only a few hundred people in the world have any real say. When you go to an Art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires.” So says Banksy in one provocative passage of ‘Wall and Peace’. He also dispenses advice on how to create graffiti art, and describes some of his adventures and close calls while doing so show more himself. I found the section where he went into various museums and installed artwork of his own onto blank walls inventive and hilarious, subversive though it was. He is not shy about expressing his strong, anti-corporate, anti-consumerism views, and like a lot of great artists, often makes you think. His art and attitude has an edge (see “You Can’t Beat the Feelin’”), but on the other hand, a sense of humanity (see this work at the West Bank border, e.g. at the Ramallah checkpoint). Very well done. show less

Feb 10, 201829 other reviews

iftyzaidi 427 reviews

Existencilism by Robin Banksy

In recent years I've generally become more alienated from the art world and the whole gallery-critic-art-school-artist nexus. But street art is something that still speaks to me and Banksy is a master of the form. I love how it is so politically engaged, uses humour so zestfully, and how it tries to connect with the man on the street.

Nov 30, 2011

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