Sunday, November 3, 2013

Banksy Was Here

"there are some places for art and there are some places [not for] art" Mayor Bloomberg

 New York City is home to tons of galleries and museums. It's a money making machine for the tourist industry.  UK artist Banksy has set up a month long residency in NYC, pissing off Mayor Bloomberg who has called him a vandal.  I've been called a lot of names in my life, "vandal" isn't one of them. Usually, I get "weird."                                                     

 
                                                                                                                                                                                        
 The last time I visited the Guggenheim it cost me $20. The price of a bus ticket is almost double that. The place for art and the price just to see art has become something for those that can afford it and Bloomberg showed his ignorance in the above statement. In Washington D.C. the museums are free. I wonder how many tax dollars go towards maintaining NYC's art museums?
My daughter went to the Metropolitan museum of art and they are now taking whatever you can donate instead of the $20 they usually charge. Art isn't a thought in most people's head, people I know are just trying to survive.
Just like the McDonalds workers that make minimum wage and the fact that Banksy is paying attention. 
What do you think this piece says about power, wealth and the plight of the American worker?
It's appalling to know that the war on the poor is part of an art exhibition instead of a thing of the past.
The mayor of a city known for art and culture can compare the worlds most famous street artist to a vandal just goes to show that Banksy's artistic political statements need to be made. What I think is even more interesting about this controversy is how little art and artists are appreciated in this country, that there is really no place for them unless they are the rich and famous.(10% of artists fit this category, mostly male.)
 People like Bloomberg who live in a rarified world where they trickle down on the poor, the homeless and the unemployed can't keep art locked away in it's "proper place." Art is "better out than in" The people who get to choose where art should be, are the artists who create it.
                                                                 Make some art today!

2 comments: