Monday, December 10, 2012

SIA: PSA



Roller Rat, Banksy
Oil & unknown medium on canvas, 2009

I have always been a fan of Banksy's work and equally unappreciative of Damien Hirst's. Where Banksy is surprising and fascinating, Hirst is pushy and shocking. Banksy's work generally juxtaposes concepts to create a fresh look at old ideas--the Queen with a crimson lightning bolt across her eye--while Hirst's work generally takes something old and attempts to refresh it, such as For the Love of God. I guess overall I am bothered that Damien Hirst doesn't actually do most of his work; he has an army of assistants who bring his ideas to life. Banksy, as far as we all know, creates all of his work himself. And I could bedazzle a skull, but I could not create graffiti on the scale of Banksy's work.

Though the point isn't that I could bedazzle a skull (or splatter paint on a canvas), it's that I didn't, and someone else did.

I could go on and on about the worth of shock value in postmodern & conceptual art, but I won't. Instead, I'll tell you that this week's inspiration for Style Imitating Art combines the two artists I've just compared, and is above. The original painting, a Damien Hirst spot painting, was done up by Banksy, likely as commentary on Hirst's commercialism, and was on display at a show of Banksy's own.

Modern art these days. Am I right, guys?

SIA post will go up next Monday, December 17th. Send me your pictures and posts by that evening. Have fun!

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