As previewed in the Koons Las Vegas piece, there’s also an “unauthorised” “Banksy: Genius or Vandal?” exhibition in Sin City right now.i Quite the opposite of the elite-fellating Koons, Bansky paints himself as a quasi-anonymous, and staunch card-carrying member of the people. He’s far more Margiela than Michelangelo, and his medium and materials reflect this, costing a few dollars for a can of spray paint, rather than millions upon millions for foundry-busting chrome extravagances. Anti-capitalist and anti-consumerist streaks also run deep in Banksy’s work, all with a very British sense of humour befitting the artist’s upbringing in the UK.
The 12`000 sqft exhibition feels its size,ii so here’s just a small sampling of the highlights, in my humble opinion, in the order in which they were viewed. Let’s begin:
“Printing Plate Golf Sale”
“Sale Ends” (2006)
“Festival (Destroy Capitalism)” (2006)
“Chocolate Donut” (2009)
“Very Little Helps” (2008)iii
“Brexit”
“Monkey Parliament” (2009)
“Have A Nice Day” (2010)
“Grannies” (2006)
“Holocaust Lipstick” (2003)iv
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- The exhibition continues until April 5, 2020. ↩
- Even still, the exhibit isn’t easy to find! Like too much else in that House of Mirrors calling itself “The Strip”… Anyways, it’s by Forever 21 in Fashion Show Mall, if that helps. Knowing this would’ve saved us 30-45 minutes of hunting, but it was all part of the adventure in the end, and no doubt this coloured how appreciative we were to finally find the bloody thing! ↩
- The succinctness and aptness of Bansky’s titling, as perfectly encapsulated with “Very Little Helps,” is reminiscent of his countryman, probably the best in the world at evocative titling, Damien Hirst. ↩
- This one was, perhaps understandably, the closest to getting me in my feels. ↩