The exhibition consisted of a house like space with two floors and around 8 rooms. But the piece that were exhibited within the building where not just images on paper spray painted and printed , they were some of the actual works that had been taken out of there original place. A vast majority of them were on concrete and road signs. It was really interesting to see the images in there original form but at the same time I think that defies Banksy's wishes for the work. In order to see the work now you have to pay around 10 euro in order to see it , when originally it was in a space that could be seen for free and by anyone , not just a certain audience. There is an element to Banksy's work that is anti commercialism , but the more media attention he has got the more his work has been commercialised. This is emphasised by at the end of the exhibition they make us leave through the gift shop. There is high demand for Banksy's work and I think it is a mixture of the medium of the work and the messages they communicate. The issues he decides to tackle include war, technology and the evolutions of human behaviour.
A couple of pieces that stood out where firstly the auction house where a piece saying ' I can't believe you morons buy this shit.' This piece seems like a statement against the selling of art initially and the commercialism of it , but in a way is an attack at the people who take Banksy's work and sell it on for millions. Because quite rightly he is angry because he will probably see none of that money and he has no control over the right he has over his work. However that is a risk , he places his work on property that isn't his so by law the owner of the property could sell it.
The second piece includes the piece with a small boy praying surrounded by church windows, but centred window is covered in graffiti. There are several ideas you could pull from this , he could be making a statement about how the art in stain glass windows hold the same value as graffiti. That this is how art has evolved. Another angle could be a personal one for Banksy. That his religion or the thing that he respects and worships is graffiti.
Overall however Banksy also covers a lot of ethical issues that other artist may be a bit carful to touch upon. Especially given that by law, he is committing a offence in placing his work on other peoples property, which can be seen a vandalism. However in doing this he is making the messages heard internationally and it can be seen for free by a number of people. So the people taking the work away and selling it as wells as placing it in galleries are depriving an significant part of the intended audience. But then the media highlight a new piece largely so this is a key way of distributing to that international audience.
The exhibition was highly advertised in Amsterdam and from the reaction of the people in it , it is obvious that his work is widely loved a there is something to be said for seeing it for real instead of an image, you appreciate the risks of the work more and the messages the communicate.
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