In Praise of Banksy. He Divides Opinion, But Does Important Work.
Last week the British street artist Banksy visited Ukraine where he created several pieces in the ruins of bombed out buildings in urban locations around the country. A series of murals appeared in the town of Borodianka, which was pummelled by Russian bombs at the beginning of the invasion and which was the site of a massacre of hundreds of citizens. One of the murals depicts a man resembling the Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is known for his love of judo, being thrown to the floor by a young boy.
Another mural in nearby Irpin shows a gymnast wearing a neck brace performing with a ribbon defiantly and proudly on top of a gaping hole in a wall. Later Banksy posted this video about his Ukraine trip on his instagram feed.
Banksy has been working as a street artist since the 1990s, and his site-specific works appear in towns and cities around the world. His work is a critical commentary on major global issues, including the dynamics of power and political authority, consumerism and capitalism. It is essentially political activism presented in a way that is easy to understand and access. Some of his pieces have become familiar images in…
