Banksy is the famous and elusive graffiti artist whose works are very valuable and yet he creates them on walls in public places where almost anyone can steal them. He has created works around Gaza City to highlight the plight of the Palestinians who are waiting for pledges to be honored worth billions of dollars to rebuild large tracts of the Gaza strip which were destroyed by shells fired by the Israelis during the last war between the countries.
He has created a series of pieces on walls around Gaza City. One is similar to Rodin’s The Thinker. The work I’d like to feature is a kitten painted on the side of a ruined building playing with a giant ball of scrap metal from homes destroyed in the shelling.
Banksy said, “A local man came up and said. ‘Please – what does this mean?’ I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction of Gaza by posting photos on my website, but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.”
He makes a neat point. A point that I have made myself. My interpretation is that he is saying that people are focusing their attention on the internet cat or celebrity cat as symbols of entertainment rather than dealing with pressing humanitarian problems, which we should deal with first before we seek entertainment.
Banksy wrote the following on another wall, “If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless we side with the powerful – we don’t remain neutral.
Being obsessed as many have been with the internet meme that is the funny/celebrity cat we are doing exactly as Banksy states.
Here is the link to the “Cat Graffiti”. How did “BANKSY” sneak into “Gaza” one of the World’s most guarded locales and paint his “Graffiti” let alone videotape the same.How did he keep his identity a secret from “Mossad” ? See the “Video” which is the ultimate in satirical political humour.This man is the “Elusive Pimpernel” of the 21st century.As for the “Cat Graffiti”.It is the centre of comment and attraction among the destroyed ruins.I have visited Israel and the West Bank in 2008 on a “Holy Land Pilgrimage”but not Gaza.Link :- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/25/banksy-s-grim-tour-of-gaza-watch-a-mini-documentary-by-the-shadowy-street-artist.html
Thanks Rudolph. Yes, he is the Elusive Pimpernel.
“A picture says a thousand Words”. The cute kitten graffiti seems out of place in the ruins.Who is “Banksy” ?
In the UK he is a very famous artist but no one knows what he looks like. His paintings on walls in the UK, usually London, are worth £100,000+ sometimes. People have cut them out of walls to claim them!