Sidmouth Arts Society: Lecture on Banksy impact on art

Probably a croquet set: a wooden mallet, some hoops and coloured balls. Not only a serious badge of honour, but you’d be laughing all the way to the bank.

Love him or loathe him, Banksy is an artistic presence to be reckoned with.

This week’s Art’s Society lecture, given by Pepe Martinez, a Blue Badge Guide and himself an artistic speaker to be reckoned with, was called “Banksy – Fraud or Genius?” 

Pepe took us through Banksy’s colourful and edgy career, his art work, exhibitions and publicity stunts.

He had no formal training in art, but produced an extraordinary range of work, including graffiti, more kindly known as urban art, in public spaces, prints and even painted designs on stuffed animals.

Behind these surface images there is always a deeper social or political meaning to be mined and his huge wealth has enabled him to support major social and political causes.

Cutting out complicated stencils is a long, laborious job, whereas by contrast spraying over them to create the images takes no time at all, so is often done by a team of workers. Banksy is also very much an unorthodox showman.

When the bidding for “A Girl with a Balloon” recently came to an end in a Sotheby’s auction room, the image was partially shredded automatically in front of the bidders as it dropped from its frame.

The small remaining portion of the picture later fetched a small fortune. Banksy obviously showed a deep disdain for the traditional art world.

He continually poked his nose at it, a bit like Marcel Duchamp who famously said “Anything can be art” and turned a white porcelain urinal into a miniature fountain.

Our next lecture at 10.40am on November 6 at the Manor Pavilion looks at the misleading reputation of Caravaggio as the only artist of any worth.

Then from 10am until 1pm on November 21 (Thursday) at the Rugby Club we’ll consider the stunning sculpture of two modern greats, Rodin and Brancusi. It’s all about lifelong learning and enjoyment. Do come along. www.sidarts.org.uk sidmouth@theartssociety.org David Smith Public Relations The Arts Society Sidmouth (TASS)