Banksy's selected graffiti include some very interesting pieces which have clear traces of social commentary involved. The two pieces I chose to analyze are "Swept Under" and "Sale On Christ" which clearly have a satirical value to them.
"Swept Under" shows a maid lifting up a curtain to deposit and hide the dirt she cleaned up only to see a brick wall instead of space. While Banksy could have easily colored the brick to make it look like the scene is from the inside of a wealthy family's house, he left the brick in for the purpose of a social commentary. The graffiti was left on a brick wall to highlight a social commentary on the situation on the streets. While the maid is supposed to keep things clean, she merely deposits the trash under a curtain, removing it from view but not removing the actual problem. This is often a criticism of society itself in that while we imprison criminals we do nothing for their rehabilitation or simply try to hide the wrong doing that occurs in society by "sweeping it under the rug" in order to keep up the appearance of wholesome conditions. Such striking social commentary is aimed at the politicians who do nothing to try and legitimately help the society in which they live, but rather do what they can to keep up appearance until the next election.
"Sale on Christ" is a piece of art that seems to be a commentary on the secularization of society by having turned our backs on religion for consumer goods. In the painting the women who pray and worship Christ when he is on the cross are surrounding a large red sign (a contrast to their gray bodies) which says "Sale Ends Today." This can be interpreted as the women praying for the extension of the sale so that they might get an extension or that sales on Sunday may have replaced the desire to worship Jesus. Nevertheless, most people who see graffiti such as this cannot help but think of the fact that there is a clear relation to religion becoming less of a domineering force in our lives as commercialism takes a more important role in our lives.
1 comment:
Wow, I never really thought of Banksy's graffiti that way. The analysis of the brick wall was very good and seemed very true. There are many problems in today's society that are simply swept underneath the rug to make it seem like everything is good instead of actually being fixed. I actually had no clue what the "Sale Ends Today" meant when I first saw it, but your analysis gives a good opinion of what Banksy's picture may be trying to say. It does seem like religion is slowly becoming less and less important to many people today.
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