Is Banksy The Artist A Genius Or Fraud?

Three years ago, a spray-painted canvas, “Girl With Balloon’ by the elusive street artist Banksy was auctioned for $1.4 million at London’s Sotheby’s. Moments after it was sold, the painting self-destructed in a prank orchestrated by the artist himself. The canvas slid through a shredder hidden inside the frame and the painting emerged in strips. Banksy posted an image of the scene on his Instagram account with the caption, “Going, going, gone…” to which the Sotheby’s head of contemporary art said, “It appears we just got Bansky-ed.”

We don’t know much about Banksy (or even his real name) because he never appears in public. He creates his stenciled works mainly on walls, usually in the middle of the night so he won’t be caught. It is said he was born in Bristol, but other than that, little is known about the graffiti artist though he is considered the most controversial street artist today, using his art to communicate his dissatisfaction with social issues and political situations.

Is he an imposter or a brilliant master? Now, art lovers can decide for themselves. An exhibition  ‘Banksy: Genius or Vandal” has just opened on 14^th Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City. There are 80 pieces, the largest collection of Banksy artworks anywhere in the world.

Banksy is known for his stenciled works, though stenciling dates back thousands of years. About 500 years ago, Romans expressed their dissatisfaction with the Vatican by leaving written messages or poetic satire on statues. By the morning, the messages were removed or painted over. Banksy continues that tradition with his satirical street art.

‘Banksy: Genius or Vandal?’ combines original works, sculptures, installations, videos, photos, and lost street works in their original organic environment. There is also a multimedia installation created for this exhibition highlighting Banksy’s most important pieces, and revealing clues to the mystery artist,

“Each visitor to the exhibition can decide whether Banksy is a genius or a vandal, artist or  businessman, provocateur or rebel,” says Alexander Nachkebiya, exhibition curator. “Banksy invites reflection and lets the visitor decide. His work is relevant and complete and his images speak and sink into our souls.”

Many critics have criticized Banksy’s work, saying that he copied directly from Blek le Rat, a French street artist who created stencil graffiti art from 1981-1983 in Paris. Le Rat had been to America in 1971 and did not want to imitate the American graffiti artists so he began spraying small rats in Paris streets. “Rats are the only wild living animals in cities and only rats will survive when the human race will have disappeared and died out,” said Le Rat.

Though the styles of Banksy and Blek le Rat are almost identical, Banksy has said, “Every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier.” Is it simply coincidence that Blek le Rat stenciled images of rats all over Paris and two decades later, Banksy stenciled similar rats on the London walls?

Whether Banksy is original or an imitator, over three million visitors have viewed this exhibition in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Madrid, Málaga, Hong Kong, Milan, Lisbon, Las Vegas, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.

The NYC exhibition takes place on two large gallery floors. For an additional charge, there is a ten-minute Virtual Reality show in which visitors wander down graffiti -covered corridors and streets. The exhibition has been created by entertainment producer Exhibition Hub and Fever and highlights Banksy’s world in a COVID-safe, family-friendly venue. “Banksy: Genius or Vandal?” will run through November 28^th. Tickets are currently available with prices starting at $29.50.