Picture Of The Week (2)
I’ve never quite made my mind up about Banksy and generally roll my eyes when another of his meisterwerks appears on someone’s wall and is immediately proclaimed a work of genius and worth oodles of money. Is it a case of the Emperor’s new clothes or is his work ground-breaking with a message for all of us?
As I have never taken much interest in him save to check the exterior walls of my house, it seems that he did some what are termed as “Crude Oils” in the early part of the century, pastiches of classic pieces of art.
Take “Show Me The Monet” which is his take on Monet’s Japanese Footbridge from Giverny which Banksy has given a modern twist by filling the pond with old shopping trolleys and traffic cones. Apparently, according to an expert, Banksy in this piece is shining “a light on society’s disregard for the environment in favour of the wasteful excesses of consumerism”. Perhaps.
Anyway, consumerism has the upper hand because the piece is up for sale at a virtual auction Sotheby’s are holding this month. The piece is expected to fetch $6m. Quite what the artist will thank of that is anybody’s guess.
The irony!
