Featured Site: Banksy

Graffiti is an art form that many have looked past. Most people out there associate the pieces, tags, and bombs thrown up by graf artists with gang culture, and that's really too bad. Gang graffiti is that crap you see done with all black that has no artistry to it what-so-ever. I agree, that stuff is wiggity-whack. What I'm talking about here is the graffiti produced by artists that hold true to the culture in which it was originally created. Evey work is a way of saying "fuck the system," and some are even more politically charged than that. Enter Banksy. This English graffiti artist produces amazing political and social commentary through the use of spray paint. Not only that, but he's fucking clever.

Although most of his pieces are done with stencils, which I have never been much of a fan of, the pure genius and message behind them makes for recognition. But the stencils don't make for clumsy bombs that just anyone can do. The detail and artistic look is more than impressive. Multiple layers and color make for beautiful pictures, and the subject matter can be so intense that it really makes you step back.

Besides his outdoor pieces, Banksy creates some interesting drawings and paintings. In a stroke of brilliance, he even started taking well-known paintings and altering them to represent the social state of our world. This can include adding garbage and upturned shopping carts to an old landscape or adding security cameras into a painting of a dirt road. He even put a bullet hole into the head of an ancient Greek bust. Some of these works he managed to sneak into museums and hang up. Among this, he is responsible for many other artistic stunts, all making a point about this shitty world.

So check this shit out. Even if you think you're too hardcore for a culture hip-hop inspired, which just shows your ignorance anyway, you probably aren't to hardcore for 'art terrorism' with a message. Maybe his works will even inspire some of you lazy bastards to get off your ass and make a voice for yourself, whether it be going out and visually forcing people to listen or just throwing bananas at your local Republican.

www.banksy.co.uk