Banksy: Wall and Piece
by Banksy
On This Page
Description
From the Publisher: Graffiti artist Banksy decorates streets, walls, bridges and zoos of towns and cities throughout the world. His identity remains unknown but his work is witty, subversive and prolific. And now, he's put together the best of his work in a fully illustrated color volume.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
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 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 show more end, were surprisingly moving.
Thoroughly enjoyable. show less
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 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 show more end, were surprisingly moving.
Thoroughly enjoyable. show less
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.
----------------------------------------
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
Well, okay, but. There is lots of really clever, funny, aesthetically pleasing advertising out there and lots of crap show more 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:
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
----------------------------------------
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 show more 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
“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 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 show more 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
Wall and Piece is a book chock full of images by the renowned and mysterious London graffiti artist, Banksy, who loathes mindless public places, the establishment, corporate sponsored graffiti (i.e. advertising), and anti-graffiti enforcers (i.e. police). Using stencils to quickly make his mark, Banksy seeks to air his grievances and democratize art by making it freely available to all people in very public spaces. In many instances, and however temporary, Banksy’s vandalism actually achieves its goals. For example, the black silhouette of a small girl holding balloons floating up in the air as painted on the Segregation Wall dividing Palestinians and Israelis, “Designated Picnic Area” stenciled on an urban dumpster, or his iconic show more rat (as opposed to that Mouse) splattered on city walls as the role model for the disenfranchised. Though some pieces are overly contrived such as the malnourished Burger King boy, or Queen (as) Monkey, almost all of Banksy’s images and use of space are cleverly executed, often with biting humor, including the self-installed works in legitimate museums. In many ways a Millennial urban equivalent to fellow UK artist Richard Long whose pieces are also rooted in simplicity, Banksy’s oeuvre is easily accessed but ironically lingers in the consciousness with multilayered sophistication. Whether or not you agree with his approach he does make a statement and for that he should be respected, if not admired. show less
Banksy...the thinking person's favourite graffiti artist. He really is clever....and he can paint. I love his advice to stencil graffiti artists that the easiest way to become invisible is to wear a day-glo vest and carry a tiny transistor radio. Must say that I enjoyed this book.....it's pretty much all pictures except for a few explanatory notes here and there. I don't know how Banksy interfaced with his publishers. He must have been identified by now but manages to still appear to be anonymous. The book appears to be a reasonable anthology of his work to date...though a high point for me was when one of his framed works was auctioned off for a huge price and immediately a hidden paper shredder was started up and the thing was half show more shredded. (Apparently it was meant to be totally shredded but something went wrong)....but the value of the piece was apparently increased by the incident. Love his rats pouring paint down the kerb....and his grenadier guards writing graffiti, and the naked guy hanging by one hand from a window whilst the "wronged" husband looks out the window for him. Happy to give this five stars. show less
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.
----------------------------------------
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
Well, okay, but. There is lots of really clever, funny, aesthetically pleasing advertising out there and lots of crap show more 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:
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
----------------------------------------
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 show more 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
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.
----------------------------------------
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
Well, okay, but. There is lots of really clever, funny, aesthetically pleasing advertising out there and lots of crap show more 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:
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
----------------------------------------
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 show more 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
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
TED 2013 Summer Reading List
190 works; 13 members
Favorite Picture Books
479 works; 160 members
Author Information
27+ Works 2,757 Members
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Banksy: Wall and Piece
- Original title
- Banksy: Wall and Piece
- Alternate titles
- Wall and piece
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Banksy
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK; Bristol, England, UK; Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; New York, New York, USA; Palestine (show all 7); Paris, France
- Related movies
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010 | IMDb)
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 2,187
- Popularity
- 9,205
- Reviews
- 30
- Rating
- (4.26)
- Languages
- 10 — Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 13