Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?

Not very long ago I used to consider graffiti at the same level as Popular Rap Music. My experience of graffiti was limited only to the gang symbols and rude racial words scratched on the buses and metro’s plastic windows, or the very colorful yet meaningless spray drawings on the walls of Montreal.

While staying in Dubai, a place surrounded by disgusting advertisements as big as skyscrapers, I really felt like drawing something on them because a) they would make huge canvases and b) the messages on them were absolutely filthy. Sharing this idea with a friend who just arrived from UK, made him introduce me to BANKSY.

The first visit to his website made me fall in love with his work, at the same time gave me some great laughs. His sense of humor is keen and smart. The quality of his works is absolutely amazing, and his messages are strong. It very much reminded me of some of the 80’s and 90’s Art groups such as the General Idea or Guerilla girls, yet Banksy’s approach is very new to its kind as Internet is his main venue of showcasing his work. But Internet hasn’t been his only medium of advertisement. He has used tricks like writing on bank notes, painting on the Israeli West Bank Barrier, installing modified reproduction of classical paintings in museum, or simply painting on the walls wherever possible. He has remained anonymous (like guerilla girls), while he has gained an international reputation.

Banksy's website:http://www.banksy.co.uk/