Banksy- Political Art

Art has a way of conveying a message that is able to speak to millions in different cultures across the world. Political art is no different. The subject of political art tends to be one that is driven by passion. In today’s world, many people want to see a change in some aspect of society that they find to be unjust. This is often translated into passionate and personal works of art through a variety of mediums. Political art, however, is quite difficult. Many people in today’s society are turned off by liberal artist’s views and find them to be nuisances to society. Their graffiti and performance pieces even seem to turn many people away from the art community. Many people outside of this group see these artists as obnoxious, resulting in them not being as highly regarded by the community. Their work is therefore not judged on quality and creativity as openly, as people are blinded by their own opinions. Political art is also found to be one of the most interesting fields to study, as so much of the work is meant to do just that – make one think.

In a world filled with billions of people, how does one make their voice heard? Especially when everyone’s views seem to conflict, how do these means not just anger people? The combination of an intriguing artist with the right audience brings the aura of political art to life. Banksy, a well renounced graffiti artist, focuses a lot of his subjects towards political art. He brings a classy, easy to approach element to this genre of art, making it widely available to a variety of audiences. His pieces are artistically executed, as one can tell he has a great deal of talent and creativity within his work.

The piece by Banksy stating, “Sorry! The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock” is shown in a multitude of areas, with the framed indoor version grabbing the attention of many. The words are painted onto a natural landscape, giving the piece a more earthy feel than print. The image of the mountainous tree landscape is backed by a piece of graffiti with matching tones. The entirety of the piece is then framed in gold. This may seem contradictory to some, but Banksy seems to pull this piece together and in doing so, opposing the community’s view of the average destructive graffiti artist.

The meaning of these words are pretty self explanatory; The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock. With the rate that we are using up our natural resources and destroying forests of over thousand years old, our resources will be out of stock. We are dwindling down the areas of the world that actually look like the natural scene in the background, and where do we think we’re going to get that back? The contrast of the mountainous landscape with the graffiti makes this realization come to life. The piece shows what a majority of our space is turning into.

Many people in today’s society find graffiti work to be degrading our quality of life. In the city of Chicago, mayor Rahm Emanuel has implemented a city wide program to eliminate graffiti completely. If a surface is defaced, owners of the property can report this in, and the city will remove the graffiti as best possible from any surface, free of charge. This program has been brought to many other cities around the world including Milan, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Antonio. Although some graffiti can be offensive and destructive, it can just as often be beautifully executed and have content of positive value to the community. Also, the graffiti artists themselves are not very highly regarded by the community, making it hard to gain acceptance and appreciation. Overall, the community does not consider this to be art at all. However, it has a strong message, is well executed, and uses the same tools that are shown in galleries across the globe. 

As a graffiti artist, the piece stating, “Sorry! The lifestyle that you ordered is currently out of stock” and many others set Banksy apart from the public image of these artists. He has a large portfolio of beautifully executed graffiti work, but is also acknowledging the depletion of our natural resources. This truly goes against the public’s general thoughts of graffiti artists. Graffiti artists are not generally seen as artists at all. The stereotype of artists tends to include a strong sense of the environment, yet all people seem to think of graffiti is to deface the environment. Banksy is showing his care of these natural resources through this work. It is very true, if the population continues to destroy our forests at the current rate, the beautifully depicted landscape will be forever lost. Not only is it wasteful, it is causing problems on our planet associated with global warming. With less forests, there are less sources to take in the Carbon Dioxide that is so present in today’s day and age. The people who are criticizing graffiti artists for degrading our quality of life are the same people who are not taking care of their community by being conscious of their carbon footprint and other dangerous ozone depleting gasses that are a part of their daily life. So who is it that is causing the destruction; the graffiti artists, or those not taking care of the community?

Knowing that the artist cares for both the environment and yet maintains his status as a graffiti artist, is an eye opener to many. Banksy opposes the image of the typical destructive graffiti artist and focuses on what the population is doing to the environment, rather than what the graffiti is doing to the environment. In what seems like a great contrast at first glance, this work is really more of a statement to the public. The work done by Banksy overall combines the great passion for political art through a very alive issue with a soft, approachable and relatable subject.