Banksy: artist or vandal? (learn English with pie)

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[Host] This month at the Bristol Museum,

there's an exhibition by the British Artist Banksy,
which is causing something of a stir.

The reason for this, is that nobody thought Banksy would have an exhibition like this.

So, for this weeks' podcasts in English.com

we're talking about Banksy and what makes him so special.

So Richard why does the exhibition seem so unusual?

[Richard] Well Banksy isn't someone who creates
pieces of art for people to buy and sell.

He's a street artist, he's a graffiti artist,
so his work can be seen

on the sides of buildings, alongside rivers,
on walls, mainly IN city centers.

[Host]And he's become something
of an urban legend, hasn't he?

His work isn't the traditional graffiti,
you know, sprayed on walls,

they're images which often
have a subversive message,

they kind of make you stop and look again.
I think they're quite clever.

[Richard]Yes, graffiti artists just usually write
their names, but he actually does paint pictures,

and they're often very funny.
Now of course painting on public walls is illegal,

and so Banksy has done two things
to avoid getting caught.

For the first thing, he's remained anonymous,
no one really knows who he is.

[Host]Yeah, Banksy's just a pseudonym, isn't he?

[Richard]Pseudonym, yes, we don't know what
his real name is or who he is,

and also secondly, he doesn't just paint on walls,
he has this technique usings stencils.

So that means he can do the pictures very quickly,
prepare the images in advance,

and then he just quickly sprays
through the stencils onto the wall.

So, it's a different technique,
and it is real art I think,

there's a lot of his work on the streets,
in Bristol, and in London too.

[Host] Yes, in fact, one of his early works
that made him quite famous

is on one of the wall of a main street in Bristol,
it shows a naked man

hanging from outside a window,
while another man is looking for him.

The councili in Bristol, asked residents
if they wanted it to stay,

or if people didn't like it, they would
get rid of it,

but apparently, nearly everyone said they
wanted it to stay.

If you go to Bristol, you can still see it.

[Richard]Great, and he's also done some
huge paintings in the United States.

A popular Banksy symbol is the rat,
and he's got some gigantic rat images

on walls in New York.

[Host] Lots of rats, but monkeys are
popular with him too.

[Richard]Yes, and a lot of his work is political,

but it's anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-capitalist,

and things like that, so it
wasn't a big surprise he went to the West Bank,

where the Israelis are building
the enormous barrier,

to separate Isreal from Palestine.

[Host]Yes, and that huge wall, I mean it's
just a blank canvas for artists like Banksy,

and of course, the images are therefore quite political.

I like the one of the girl flying over the wall
with a huge bunch of balloons.

There's another one of a girl frisking a soldier.

[Richard]Yes, that's my favourite.

[Host]Rather than the other way around,

and they're also images of beautiful views
showing through the wall.

[Richard]Yes, but the question is,
is it unlawful vandalism, like so much graffiti?

Or is it inspirational art work?

[Host]Well one of the things,
do you remember Richard?

One of the things I didn't like about Madrid,
was all the graffiti,

[Richard]Yes

[Host]So it does seem hypocritical to say,

I like Banksys' work,
because, he is, after all, a graffiti artist.

I don't know, but I feel it's got
more of a point, somehow,

and I enjoy the messages.

[Richard]Yes, that's the problem isn't it?
The point of view.

I think it's art, but what do the listeners think?

Are people like Banksy artists, and therefore
get lots of money for their works,

or are they vandals? Or maybe even both!
So we'd love to hear from you.

That's it for this week's podcast in English.

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