In May last year, a mural appeared overnight on the wall of an old amusement arcade in the port town of Dover on England’s southern coast of the familiar bright blue EU flag with its yellow stars, one of which was pictured being chipped away at by a worker on a ladder. The mural — in a town which overwhelmingly voted to leave and is one of Britain’s main crossing points to the continent — gained much attention after it emerged that it was the work of Banksy, the elusive artist, who till this time had not made known his political views on the contentious Brexit referendum.
The artist — who continues to maintain his anonymity despite various attempts — has created works across the world: from searing critiques of the treatment of people at refugee camps by the French city of Calais, to the hotel with the “world’s worst view” in Bethlehem. However, it is in his home country of the U.K., where he continues to have perhaps the most enduring impact. Last year, his mural of a little girl letting go of a heart-shaped balloon on the wall of a London shop, and at other locations beat works by the likes of Antony Gormley, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable to be voted the nation’s favourite artwork.
In 2015, over 1,50,000 people paid to attend his dystopian “bemusement” park Dismaland — whose exhibits included a derelict dingy fairy castle, a disfigured “Ariel” mermaid and a “woman attacked by seagulls” in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.
Variants of “balloon girl” have appeared over the years — an image of the girl reimagined as a young Syrian refugee was projected on Nelson’s column on Trafalgar Square in 2014, while in 2017, ahead of the U.K. general election, he released images of a print of the girl letting go of the balloon, this time with the balloon bearing the Union Jack flag on it. Banksy pieces — murals or otherwise — continue to fetch huge sums either through traditional auction houses or other routes. Last year, five Banksy murals in Liverpool were sold to a Qatari buyer for £3.2 million, despite the fact that Banksy does not provide authentication of street art. He has indicated his opposition to the commercialisation of his street art — he has made clear he wishes to live a life on the streets — and in 2014 vocally criticised an auction that sought to sell an array of public murals from across the world.
A place for artwork
Banksy’s impact beyond the conventional art world has been profound, says Dave Stuart, who runs Shoreditch Street Art Tours in London. Banksy’s humorous, often bitingly political, thought-provoking pieces introduced the media and the public to the world of street art and showed those aspiring street artists, who believed they had traditionally been excluded from the art world, that there was a place for their work, he says. “People who had never had an exhibition, and had no hope of getting into the traditional art world, discovered that using tools that Banksy showed us, we could put art on the streets.”
Mr. Stuart was also caught off guard by the recent stunt that saw Banksy’s ‘Girl with the Balloon’ that had just sold for £1 million shredded during an auction at Sotheby’s. However, he says the move was very much in keeping with Banksy’s approach and perspective: mocking the traditional art world and expressing disquiet at the way his and other works had been commodified — while at the same time reviving interest and debate on his works. “It’s certainly going to sustain his reputation and visibility.”
Vidya Ram works for The Hindu and is based in London
