Banksy is perhaps one of the most “controversial” artists in the whole of the country. His artwork is that of Graffiti - a rather subjective form of artwork which always seems to get people questioning,
“Is Graffiti really a form of art?”
Yes is the answer to that - and anything can be classed as art. Photography is art, Design is art, Sculpture is art, Architecture is art, the list is pretty much endless as to what can be classed as art. Getting really philosophical you could pretty much class existence and everything in the world as a form of art in one way or another, at the end of the day art is based upon perspective(s).
So what happened when a wall on the side of a Nottingham based Hair and Beauty Salon, ended up becoming something of a tourist attraction? Well it would seem as if Banksy had visited, or did he? Well to begin with it was somewhat of a mystery, and whilst people were thinking that Banksy had visited, an artist from Birmingham by the name of,
“Itchers”
Had stolen the limelight for a short while and claimed the Graffiti on the side of a rather unassuming wall was actually his. However just hours later this all changed when Banksy posted a picture on his Instagram page showing the very same piece of artwork.
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| (Image: Nottingham Post/Marie Wilson) |
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| The photo of the work from Banksy's Instagram Account. |
Of course the question that remains is why did one artist (Itchers) claim it was his. And then why did Banksy merely “upload a photo” of it to his Instagram feed? A contradiction going on here? Something of a street artist(s) rivalry? In which Banksy wants to steal the limelight, from another street artist who is also just as talented. Yes rivalries exist within the arts world as well. Below are the two contradicting posts as to who has carried out this piece of work.
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/street-artist-claims-responsibility-banksy-4615585
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/live-updates-banksy-confirms-nottingham-4615973
Now one thing that is seemingly obvious which people have forgotten is Banksy has “not confirmed anything” at all other than the uploading of a photo to Instagram, which is really not evidential proof that he had even created this piece of Graffiti work.
So the mystery deepens on the debating point, is this even a Banksy? As Birmingham Live, release the following article - which states in the headline,
“Birmingham artist slams Banksy over 'taking credit' for Nottingham mural and says he has a stencil to prove it”.
A case of clever PR, from Banksy, it could very well be, and when you want to promote other talent, then Banksy would be fantastic at promoting other talent from the street art world. Yet it is when you actually take a closer look at the piece of artwork, on this incredibly unassuming wall that questions could and should be raised, Banksy is known for his rather politically motivating and thought provoking works, where as this piece of work does not scream out as being “Politically motivating” nor “thought provoking” either, in fact of anything it is the complete opposite of that.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-iconic-works-banksy
The other thing that raises questions, of it being a Banksy, is the colour palette that has been used and that some of his previous works have been bold and brash, with lighter grey’s being used along with lighter shades of black. Also other colours are used and rarely does he tend to use objects such as bikes, within any of his artworks
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| Is this Banksy? Was he in Nottingham last week? |
Either way though, who ever has done this work of Graffiti it is superb and it is exactly that, art - which is designed for debate and to get people talking and discussing things, what is a shame however is that it got vandalized, thankfully two women worked endlessly to get rid of the idiotic vandalism that was carried out, on this truly superb graffiti piece, by an incredibly talented artist.
It is also worth noting that the picture, is now behind a Perspex screen, and yes, every city should have some form of Graffiti murals or Graffiti tags, as it gets people talking about life and issues around the world. Call it engaging art, just a shame in this case that it engaged some brain dead individuals to damage it.
People of Nottingham, be proud of this work of Art and respect it as well.
