I went to “The Art of Banksy: Genius or Vandal?”
It runs in Nagoya from February 3 to June 20, and in Fukuoka from July 2 to October 31.
The exhibition’s website is here
Banksy is an anonymous artist based in the UK, and works attributed to Banksy can be found scattered all over the world.
I didn’t know much about Banksy, but when I learned that he was a street artist who paints satirical images symbolizing criticism of society all around the world, I became curious about who he is and what kind of works he makes, so I went to see the exhibition.
Photography was allowed for every piece in the exhibition, and everyone who came was taking pictures with their phones.
This time, in order to see Banksy’s works without preconceptions, I decided to look at the works themselves and avoid reading the explanatory texts as much as possible.
Having seen it through to the end, my impression is that, if I have to answer the exhibition’s question, Banksy is both a genius and a vandal.
That said, while I agree that Banksy is a genius, calling him a vandal felt slightly off to me.
This is just my personal take, but Banksy seems to feel sadness toward society and the world.
People have lost sight of what it means to be human, and are being tossed about by the world and swallowed up by consumer society.
The strong fail to notice the weak, and the gap only widens.
He seems angry that people never question what they take for granted.
That is how it felt to me.
Because he is a genius, he has come to see the true nature of the world.
But since he could not change the world even by becoming a politician, he appeals to the world as an artist instead.
Since I know almost nothing about Banksy, I have no idea whether this reading is right.
I may well be completely off the mark.
Still, while I felt a strong will in the works, I didn’t sense the violent side implied by the word “vandal.” What came through was sadness and Banksy’s own strong will — and perhaps to conceal that, or perhaps out of humor, he expresses it in the form of satire.
Honestly, for nearly half of the works I had no idea what they were trying to say.
But with the other half, something came through naturally.
It is precisely because Banksy is a genius that he can create humorous, critical satirical works.
I also thought his technical skill as a painter was outstanding.
I myself have things I want to criticize about society, things I want to speak out about, and perhaps that overlapped with Banksy’s works and led me to interpret them this way.
I think anyone who sees Banksy’s works will feel something from them.
I’m very curious how Banksy’s works look through your eyes.