Banksy: Wall and Piece

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Sometimes I think that I am one of a few who knows about Banksy, and admires his clever work. Today I sifted through tonnes of layers of dust and things after having moved two heavy freezers just to access his book, Wall and Piece, which I needed for an English assignment.

Finding it was like finding the holy grail of books. Not only did I save another sixty dollars from not following my alternative method of acquiring the book - buying it again - but I felt my artistic insides come alive again because I had lost access to this amazing book years ago when we moved houses. This time round, I am not letting it out of my sight or reach. What is contained within is a seemingly endless amount of his art pieces scattered around the world, and two most significant locations, the Louvre and the Tate. It amazes me how Banksy, dressed as ridiculous looking as he had, wearing a large conspicuous fake beard, a fedora and a long tan raincoat, photographed above, had managed to enter the galleries and paste his own canvases and plaques on a wall or two and walk out.

I still admire him for being able to pull that off. That is not the only reason I admire him, though, as astounding as that was. I admire Banksy mainly because he creates works of utter inspiration. To this day, for three years, I have not been able to rid my mind of one of his haunting stencil pieces which depicts an African child dying of malnutrition wearing a Burger King cardboard crown. As simple as this stencil may appear because of its simple lines, it says so very much, and will not escape my mind because of the brutal truth behind it all. We still manage to go about our daily lives, chasing material objects and we still forget that despite our first-world problems, there are people out there living in third-world conditions, barely.

In fact, I do not think most of us even consider the bad side of things at all. On my recent teaching round, I was faced with students who could not formulate their opinions on domestic violence against women, nor could they believe that it exists. Though this problem was spoken about in a first-world context, it saddens me how third-world contexts are barely touched upon. People are unaware of the ugly things in the world and I thank Banksy so much for attempting to make them known. Authoritative responses to his work have been that graffiti is a form of vandalism - I think that rather it is a form of communication safer to express, if you are not caught, that says quite a lot. The saying 'a picture tells a thousand words' is definitely true in the case of Banksy, and that is why I believe he should be appreciated more.

Rather than your average photographer, Banksy puts a lot more effort in producing controversial works of art which bring up things we shun. Though most of his works are satirical, others have significantly disturbing undertones. I value these undertones because as aware of things as I am, they make me aware on a much deeper level, which is of importance in a society so used to complaints. Australians complain about Prime Minister Tony Abbott because of his misogynistic views and his refusal of gay rights, yet we do not see Russia's Putin and his overly misogynistic views and total refusal of gay rights, let alone gay people. We are blind to how homosexuals are treated by homophobic Russians, both civilians and the authorities. I think if Banksy were Australian, he would make that clear to other Australians.

Though he uses generally informal ways to bring forth his opinions, Banksy appears to be a learned person. His wit in his captioning within Wall and Piece prove that he is quite erudite. His works are a display of his highbrow nature, and the fact that his identity is still hidden from most people, especially his fans, juxtaposes with the ideas of fame - one needs not be seen to be seen on a deeper sense. I take comfort in the fact that although I have not met him or seen him, I have done so by observing his work. The world needs more people like Banksy because unlike the media, he delves into important things that the world has evaded.