Brand Banksy

Britain’s most celebrated graffiti artist released another piece of work this week; ‘girl with a pierced eardrum’ which replaces Vermeer’s famous earring with an alarm box fixed to the wall.

But within 24 hours it had been defaced, as have a series of his recent works. Has the Banksy brand become too big for its boots? Does he have the same halo he once did?

His (or her?!) work is often heralded as being charming, witty and subversive and straddling many different worlds at once; commercial, artistic, street etc. His work feels like a personal in joke between you and him. His popularity is undeniable – gone from a working class Bristolian boy to international star with his work going for millions.

Yet has he become separated from the streets from which he was born and paints?

It’s ironic both that his success now makes him an outsider from the subculture he’s from and that he himself is now a commercial brand despite his ambivalence to the corporate machine (he’s turned down advertising opportunities with Nike 4 times). The endless press attention, fake reproductions, celebrity plaudits and status himself have turned Banksy into a commodity, bought and sold.

And it all feels a bit tired. The magic we once enjoyed now feels mundane and commercial and his image has now overtaken the work itself.

But what remains of his anonymity means that, unlike other celebrities, he has the power to redefine himself. Indeed, this control over his image is something he’s carved over time – try and find pictures of his early less refined work of freehand graffiti, you’ll struggle.

In the face of this increasing commercialisation, he might need to start this process soon if he’s to remain credible as the subversive vandal he was once perceived as.

The post Brand Banksy appeared first on VCCP.