With the recent survey at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) we have been presented with what seems to be a fresh, and never been seen before insight to the artist’s working practices and ideas. However, not all is as it seems, as much of what is stated and seen has been well known and understood for some time. What isn’t stated is where Banksy’s work sits with the wider context of 20th and 21st century art, and how Banksy’s rise to fame coincides with the emergence of the Young British artists (YBA) generation of the 1990s, with artist such as Damian Hirst and Tracy Emin. Just like the YBA’s Banksy made art that was designed to shock, and be anti-establishment, but just like them Banksy is now as much part of the establishment as any other successful artist. During the talk we will place the work within this context, as well as how Banksy’s working methods, materials and use of anonymity are found with creative practices going much further back than most would realise.
Blair Cunningham is Subject Coordinator – Art and Art History, Access: Art History; Sociology; Economics; Business and Management; Theology & Religious Studies; Classical Studies, and Archaeology Short Courses (External Relations) at the University of Glasgow.
