Banksy. Brainwash. Blah Blah Blah

If you’re a fan of Banksy … here is a book for you.

Banksy Locations (and a tour) Vol. 2 /
Available at Shellshock Publishing

‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ is fun to watch. I saw it in a cinema in Cleveland, Ohio and was the only person younger than 60 years old in the room. I can testify to the repeated laughter of several sets of grandparents. Banksy made the story and narrative appealing to everybody, and we can certainly agree that this ability is part of what made his street art so popular in the first place. The film, like his other visual work is easy and accessible. It has one quick punch. More impressive however, is his ability to use this punch to open people up and get them thinking, talking or laughing (even at themselves).

It’s an entertaining movie, but if you’re interested in Banksy I can suggest a good alternative that may not appeal to your grandma, but is surely of interest to long time Banksy fans, forum fanatics or anybody trying to understand what all the fuss is about. Martin Bull’s Banksy Locations (and a tour) Vol. 2 provides an unpretentious yet critical look at Banksy’s public works. It would be possible to claim that a great deal of the interest in the Oscar nominated film is indebted to the content you’ll find in Bull’s book. It is an honest little gem that properly belongs in the gift shop, but could one day enter the shelves as an historical reference that documents the work that led to the rise of the Banksy brand.

Unlike many contemporary looks at Banksy, Bull does not talk about money or marketing or make half assed belly flops into philosophy, but rather returns to the scene of the crime that has the whole culture industry sniffing around in the first place; traces of illegal art. This is a book about the grimy work, not the smoke and mirrors that keep the wizard behind the curtain.

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