Tag Archives: graffiti

Museum Celebrates Banksy- An Artist Who Hates Museums

(NEW YORK) – The presence of The Banksy Museum in New York City has been confirmed. SoHo is now the home to the world’s largest collection of Banksy’s life-sized murals and artwork. Located at 227 Canal Street (at Broadway), NYC The Banksy Museum is now open, in preview, to the public. The official press opening is Wednesday, May 15. Tickets are now available online at MuseumBanksy.com and on site at the museum. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.
Displaying over 160 works by the world’s most famous-yet-anonymous street artist, The Banksy Museum recreates the revolutionary and often ephemeral art that Banksy has painted on surfaces in London, Bristol, Paris, Venice, Bethlehem, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Visitors to the museum will immerse themselves in an environmental experience, giving viewers access to Banksy creations, much of which has long since been whitewashed or dismantled. Beyond the iconic street art, the exhibition also features some of the artist’s studio work, as well as animated visual and video elements.
The New York Banksy Museum experience, an American premiere, follows successful exhibitions in ParisBarcelona, Kraków and Brussels. The new exhibition, a New York premiere, is expanded to over 160 recreations, making it the largest display of Banksy work ever seen in a single setting.
Is it even possible to create a museum that celebrates the work of an artist who once said “the only thing worth looking at in most museums of art is all the schoolgirls on day trips with the art departments”?  Banksy Museum founder Hazis Vardar initially had his doubts. “Street art belongs in the raw setting of the streets,” said Vardar. “But if people can’t see it, is it even art? Little of Banksy’s works are visible to the public at large. Most have been stolen for resale, inadvertently destroyed, or erased by overzealous city cleaning teams. Most of this transient art could only be viewed on tiny smartphone screens, which is no way to experience the scale or emotion of Banksy’s work. So we knew that we needed to create an exhibition that would bring Banksy’s art back before the public.”
Creators of The Banksy Museum faced the challenge of mounting an exhibition that was as unconventional and transgressive as the art within. “If we only trapped Banksy’s work in guilt frames on a wall, this would antithesize all that Banksy’s art represents,” says Vardar. “So we set out recreate the artworks in a life-size, re-imagined space that reflects the street experience. We employed a team of anonymous street artists, like Banksy, to recreate the work. The outcome was, truly, a magnificent reflection of Banksy’s energy, defiance, and raw talent.”  
Banksy is undoubtedly, the world’s most celebrated and elusive guerrilla street artist. Armed with little more than spray paint and stencils, the man behind the pseudonym Banksy has fostered an alluring identity that doesn’t embrace tradition, but shreds it. There’s still much we don’t know about the mysterious artist since he first made his mark in the ’90s, but what we do know is that Banksy’s striking, satirical work always delves into political and socio-critical discourse. Banksy’s artwork is characterized by striking images, often combined with slogans.  His work often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy, and greed. Common subjects include rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and children. In addition to his two-dimensional work, Banksy is known for his installation artwork. A hero to some, a vandal to others, Banksy’s artwork has been known to sell for record-breaking sums, with landowners rushing to profit from – or whitewash – buildings chosen as his latest canvas.  Banksy maintains an oxymoronic relationship with the art world, demonstrating hostility to capitalism while being one of the most sought-after and collected contemporary artists. Celebrities who’ve collected Banksy art include Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Christina Aguilera, and Lance Armstrong to name a few. 
Banksy was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2010 documentary feature Exit Through the Gift Shop, an examination of the relationship between commercial and street art. 
In Wall and Piece, one of his four books containing photographs of his work complemented with his own thoughts, Banksy says “copyright is for losers” and encourages non-commercial use of his work for activism and the public’s personal enjoyment.
Banksy’s art has been further amplified by worldwide media coverage of his rebellious pranks. Between 2003 – 2005, Banksy made headlines by covertly placing his artwork beside masterpieces at The Tate and The British Museums in London; The Louvre in París; and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum and The American Museum of Natural History in New York. In 2018, Banksy shook the art establishment when he orchestrated the self-destruction of his canvas, “Girl with Balloon,“ having it drop through a shredder built into the bottom of its gilt frame just moments after it sold for $1.4 million usd / $1.92 million cad at Sotheby’s. The first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction, the work was renamed “Love Is In The Bin” and resold for $25.4 million usd/ $34.9 million cad just three years later.
The art world has coined the phrase “the Banksy effect” to illustrate the increased interest in other street artists, largely due to Banksy’s overwhelming international success.

Where / When: The Banksy Museum, 277 Canal Street, NYC 10013 (at Broadway) is open daily, 10AM – 8PM.
How to get there by subway: N, R, Q, W, A, C, E and 6 trains to Canal Street.
Family friendly: All ages are welcome to The Banksy Museum. This is an experience that all family members can enjoy.
About the venue: The Banksy Museum is an indoor, air-conditioned venue. The museum is located on the 2nd & 3rd floors.
Accessibility: Located on the second floor, the venue is accessible, with an elevator. Guests requiring assistance throughout this experience are entitled to apply for one free pass for their personal assistant/support worker.
How long does the experience last?: Visitors are welcome to enjoy the exhibition at their own pace. The exhibition, on average, takes an hour to experience.Parking: There is no parking at this venue, but parking is available in the neighborhood.

For the Silo, Brett Oberman.

Colouring In The Bible Is The Latest Trend In Journaling

An interesting new trend is on the rise—colouring in a Bible.

What was once frowned upon, is now encouraged. This new trend is called Bible journaling. Bible journaling is the act of doodling in one’s Bible, as a way to creatively express one’s faith. However, some people choose to illustrate outside their Bible; as for some, doodling on the Bible itself is still prohibited.

Over the past few years, the movement has grown significantly with many online groups, forums, Facebook communities, blogs, and church groups creating groups where people share their Bible journal artwork, offer techniques, and provide a supportive boost.

People even discuss where to get Bibles with the largest margins so that there is room for their designs, creating an interesting demand on publishers and retailers.

Complete Guide to Bible Journaling: Creative Techniques to Express Your Faith (Fox Chapel Publishing), by designer, inspirational speaker, and author of the best-selling Zenspirations® book series Joanne Fink, was created in response to this amazing trend.

The book features the works of top Bible journalers, offers drawing tips, the best tools to use, and even offers traceable vellum sheets to use on your own Bible. For the Silo, Elizabeth Martins.

Main image courtesy of biblejournallove.com


Light Informs Art In Ways That Cannot Be Disentangled

We sit in the grip of deep winter, snow reflecting the moonlight at last. At this time of the year, the earth slows down and so too can we. It is time for us to reflect as well, upon the year that has been and the year ahead. During these dark months, light becomes a precious thing. Something to celebrate and embrace as we pass the days. Everything we see is light and light informs art in a way that cannot be disentangled.

ak-dolven-painting-detail

“Light is also about…the passage of time,” says Norwegian artist A K Dolven. Living on an island in Norway above the Arctic Circle has given her a unique perspective about the interplay of art and light. Her work examines intimacy and large social groups, the relationships of nationality, population, space, and how this changes the work she does. In her village of nine people, a piece of art takes on a very different character than it does in a large city such as Brussels or London. Dolven incorporates balance in its many forms in the world we live in. Political balance, social balance, life balance, and other delicate equilibriums contribute to the nature of her art.

Milovan Destil Markovic recently participated in a Belgrade-based exhibition titled “The Pleasure of Love in a Time of Hate.” His work for the exhibition was in the form of barcode paintings that touched on sexual intimacy. Markovic also uses his barcode paintings in a series titled “The Abduction of Europe” in which he takes a hard look at economic power struggles within the European community.

milovan-destil-markovic-barcode-paintings

The paintings resemble street graffiti with economically and politically charged statements spray painted within the confines of a barcode structure. Markovic also creates what he calls Transfigurative Paintings. These works employ a medium that reflects the subject in some way.
Additional interviews include: Karl Haendel and Paul McDevitt

Winter can be a time for personal reflection. We can create a space where it is safe for our minds to explore new horizons through literature. What are you reading to pass the cold days and dark nights? Click here to add your books. User Carla Cruz has been immersed in The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir, while M Chevska seeks winter solitude in Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

An example of Jarrod Barker's graffiti inspired landscape painting.
An example of Jarrod Barker’s graffiti inspired landscape painting.

Those interested in the opportunity to create a piece of permanent, public art can submit to Seattle’s Central City Connector Project. An artist or team of artists will be chosen to create artwork that defines the aesthetic of the Central City Connector Streetcar Line. Alte Schule Hohenstein has an open call to artists interested in a residency at their school in Germany.

As we run down the days until the world is reborn and spring returns, let us not forget to enjoy the respite of winter darkness. Invite light in when it presents itself and wrap your mind in the stillness of midwinter.For the Silo, Brainard Carey.

Brainard  is currently giving free webinars on how to write a better Artist bio and statement and how to get a show in a gallery – you can register for that live webinar and ask questions live by clicking here.

Spotlight image courtesy of urbanchristiannews.com

Supplemental– The History and Creation of the Barcode.