An art blog by Jon Coffelt on The Whole 9

Jon Coffelt, highly acclaimed artist, activist and curator, is a former gallery owner living and working in Manhattan. Coffelt decided to keep his distinctive Southern drawl.

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Fresh As Banksy?

May 22, 2010
11 Comments

Well, arguably the world’s best known graffiti artist, Banksy, the renowned has struck again. This time again in New York City. Michael Skolnik of Global Grind has posted Banksy’s newest displays of affection. http://www.globalgrind.com/channel/cultu… Four pieces have been sited since May 1 around New York City. The pieces are the freshest thing out there. Banksy is the Brit who is just as big inside a gallery as on the raw streets. Police have been chasing him for years and collectors have broken up the concrete on sidewalks where his work appears and selling it for hundreds of thousands of dollars yet Banksy’s identity remains a mystery. Is “a shroud of mystery” the new black? Anything that stirs the heart and effects the public is what gets our attention. There are definitely things we can learn as an art community based on the covert actions of an artist like Banksy. What does one conjure up with ideas as legitimate and Illegitimate as those of the unknown Banksy? http://www.globalgrind.com/channel/cultu…

Street villain/Gallery/babe, Graffiti tagger/legitimate lauded artist All juxtapositions. All Banksy. Arts expectations are concurrently changing and morphing. Where do we fit in?

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10 Comments

  1. tdartst

    Wow! I’ve been thinking the exact same thing lately. There is something in me that wants to stir up the masses, be it either political or religious commentary or just creating something that makes people think. The art community in New Orleans needs a BIG jolt!!! Thanks!

  2. joncoffelt

    I keep hearing artists saying how the environment for art has changed. Maybe its time we started changing the environment for art ourselves.

    I mean, its not like the banking system or the repugs or the tea party or the green tea party care, you know?

    Live or die trying!
    Live out loud or die quietly

  3. joncoffelt

    Banksy 2010

  4. wonderwall

    Breaking rules always gets one noticed, breaking rules with a message or a huge dose of reality, a change of perspective, social cometary ruffles feathers and makes a statement that is louder then the broken rules which I think is the allure of Banksy.

  5. ninabmay

    I saw “Exit Through the Gift Shop” this week and thought it was brilliant! Banksy is quite entertaining and smart. It just goes to show you how commercialism, marketing, hype and money control the politics of the Art world. What a shame that people with no talent can make millions. Referring to the so-called artist in the film Theirry Guetta.

  6. dangerousideas

    The film’s very entertaining and provocative and Banksy is the greatest art prankster of our time. He’s a self-proclaimed con-artist, a mirror (feigning invisibility) facing off against the mirror that is art (or at least art as it reflects our culture, our society and our ‘values’; measured in cash money these days). The self-relexive dialogue reaches for infinity. Thierry Guetta is of course an alter ego for Banksy himsilf. If I had the money, I wouldn’t pay thousands much less hundreds of thousands of dollars for ‘his work’, but I think he’s a real smart, funny guy and these days He’s laughing all the way to the bank!

  7. joncoffelt

    Banksy, (bank-like, like a bank, bankesque) All the way to the bank

  8. dangerousideas

    Oh yeah, you got that right. All the best cons make it a point of pride to let you know what their game is in advance. (But if you know you’re being played and play anyways, does the game change?)

  9. awaken2sun

    Sometimes the thrill of the game is worth the thrill of the game…whether you’re being played or are playing someone else…and in the best games, it is sometimes difficult to tell which is which.

  10. joncoffelt

    Check this out Banksy at the Israel’s Left Bank
    http://www.artsjournal.com/lies/2010/05/is-street-art-over.html

One Trackback

  1. By Tweets that mention Apples To Oranges: Art in NY and Beyond » Fresh As Banksy! -- Topsy.com on May 25, 2010 at 10:15 am

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jon Coffelt, Jon Coffelt, Jon Coffelt, Miriam Climenhaga, jerry shawback and others. jerry shawback said: rt @joncoffelt Fresh As Banksy? http://ping.fm/wqkoj at once, villiam and lauded art world babe [...]

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