"Designated" Graffiti Area?

The second piece of Banksy’s artwork that Julia and I found when we were wandering London was a graffiti image of a policeman walking a poodle on a leash. The interesting thing about this piece is that we found it on a wall inside Cargo bar in Shoreditch. Next to the image of the policeman and the dog is the statement “This wall is a designated graffiti area”. Banksy appears to be making the point that while graffiti is usually associated with street art and freedom, “designating” graffiti areas seems like somewhat of an oxymoron. Graffiti is typically used as a rebellion against institutionalized art and consumerist culture, yet this graffiti wall is being used within a bar for aesthetic pleasure. As I stated in the previous post, Banksy’s pieces seem to be a bit contradictory, making the issue of “street art vs. institutionalized art” that much more interesting.

Posted by: Maddy