Banksy Would be Proud

Banksy is a graffiti artist and there is a museum dedicated to his work in Barcelona. Most of what they had is familiar to me though this work was not. Banksy’s work is usually political in nature and this one is no exception, highlighting the migration of Syrians from their war torn country in small rafts to Greece. It’s inspired by a monumental painting by Gustavo Gericault entitled “Raft of the Medusa” painted in 1818 that depicts a true story of a shipwreck in which those alive cannibalized those who had died.

Banksy’s identity is “unknown” and graffiti art is a subject we will be exploring in Art Appreciation later in the semester. We all see graffiti and whatever you think about it’s creation the rest of the images I am going to share are amazing examples of artistic graffiti. A small ruralagricultural town in Spain called Penelles struggled to maintain itself until it decided to embrace graffiti (fine in Spain if you are caught is 6000 Euro). They hold a festival every year in early May and invite 10-15 artists to create these monumental works. I could go on and on with them so enjoy.

If you aren’t familiar with Banksy’s work here is one that someone copied in Penelles that shows Donald Trump embracing Kim Jun Un of North Korea and an artist whose work appears all over town very amusing in the style of Banksy. Enjoy!