Banksy

Jane no need to apologise - she doesn't look the Queen to me. He normally does her with a crown.

Ana I hadn't thought about the grey wash - so she can't see that the art was on the wall and it's been painted over?

The implication is still that she is stupid....

I've also had a look and can't see what the message is.

I read the comments section and one person says:

The "empty" plinth, as you describe it, appears to have had something on it which has been painted out in grey, or BUFFED.

Can you see the joke now ?'

No

Unless it's a reference to the removal of his previous one?

Perhaps the 'joke' is just the play on the word 'buff'?

You are right Ana - I have just checked on the Urban Dictionary and it says:

buffed. Graffiti terminology. When your shit gets painted over by the authorities, MTA, property owners etc.

I think the message (if there is one) is the contasting image of an "art buff" a term which implies an expert in appreciating visual excellence and stylish flair, in flat sensible shoes, what looks like a quilted jacket, and with a distinct stoop to her elderly and no-longer-stylish shoulders, listening intently to a commentary about a boring battered pillar standing in front of a cracked and discoloured wall with a shapeless smudge on it. If there used to be anything of artistic merit hanging there, it is now gone, and all that is left of it is the commentary.

But equally, it could just be a drawing of someone admiring a plinth from the age of antiquity. There doesn't have to be any subtle meaning to be winkled out.

Ah! It is an inside joke on the word "buffed". Anything artistic has been buffed out.

Yes, Elegran!

I can see it's a play on words. She is supposed to look like a typical "art buff" and the painting has been "buffed". That's about it. Don't think it's his best work ever.

It might have worked better if the figure had looked more like what the general public imagines an 'art buff' to look like...IYSWIM!

Agree Ana -perhaps Banksy should have depicted Brian Sewell or the gorgeous Andrew Graham-Dixon.

I liked his one in Park St Bristol of a naked man hanging out of the window. Some idiot paint bombed it.

Oh. Art Buff. Buffed art. OK. Thank-you everyone.

(Wonders if she can withdraw angry email sent to Banksy.....)

But - I agree with Ana and Janea - a different figure would have worked better.... I still think the implication is that she isn't able to appreciate art...

I like quite a bit of Banksy's work. However , you could argue that if he can paint pictures on walls, then anyone should be allowed to.Banksy has become something of a darling to the nation [he is in danger of becoming a National Treasure, like Alan Bennet.]He is also a multi-millionaire now, but he still enjoys a bit of subversive art on the side.
So, over to you, should anyone [who is reasonably good at art] be allowed to paint anywhere they fancy?

rosesarered a youth worker doing a graffiti art/art mural group started off by saying that the difference between vandalism and art was permission

I suppose it depends if you like the outcome or not, and if it enhances the area or not. If someone paints a Mona Lisa in an underpass I don't mind.

I hate it when people scribble all over the world...

Me too Feetle. And it's kind of arrogant to just go scribbling on other people's property, whether it's considered art or not.

Wouldn't it depend on what it is they are scrawling painting? If it's just words (like a gang's name or something), I don't see the point of that. Some 3D street art is brilliant (but not intended to be permanent).

(a link for anyone who hasn't seen it before (it's just a google search page): https://www.google.com/search?q=3d+street+art&client=firefox-a&hs=LiX&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=McQyVKuvKIeE7ga9wIGAAQ&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=611#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=YTJkQw0fqdeguM%253A%3BlfRq7Rp5-8EfoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwoondu.com%252Fimages%252Fart%252Famazing-street-art-paintings%252Fstreet-art8.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwoondu.com%252Famazing-3d-street-art-paintings%252F%3B500%3B695 )

I'd like to know when he paints them (in the middle of the night!) why doesn't anyone ever see him, who is he? How do you know it's a banksy, could be numerous imposters.

HollyDaze I feel like I'm falling into a lot of those 3D street art images!

I think street art/ graffiti - call it what you will - is the least of our worries when it comes to vandalising the world we live in. I can think of beautiful buildings torn down, hideous buildings erected, trees massacred for bloody tramlines and trainlines (don't get me started on HS2) that nobody wants, and so on. Compared to that I quite enjoy a bit of art work on dreary buildings and concrete bridges, even if it's not often up to Banksy standards.

Blek le Rat actually started it all, although he probably wasn't as politically motivated as Banksy.

Someone's painted a penis on the empty plinth in Banksy's Art Buff now.
It's on top of the Perspex sheet though.

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/valuable-banksy-art-in-folkestone-is-vandalised-by-graffiti-9790508.html

Just wondering -

1) Can you vandalise graffiti?

2) Does this make the image of the older woman edgier?

(Update - it's been removed already).

I think Banksy himself might have laughed at that.

I'm sure he did!