Banksy Art Analysis
The piece of artwork I chose to analyze is Banksy's 'Keep your coins, I want change'. I chose this piece, because I have loved it ever since I have first seen it (2017). Banksy is an unidentified street artist from the UK who creates works of art relating to the world's problems. I have connected with many pieces of his work and find his messages to be incredible. According to research I have done; another artist, Meek, has said to have done the same painting. The difference being Meek's work was not done on a red brick building, it instead had red letters on the 'sign'.
The stenciled image itself is in black and white, with (what looks like) blue letters, and it is painted on a bright red brick building, these colors alone are enough to draw someone in. From what I can tell, the painting is of a male figure, in dark clothing with a white cup, "begging" for change like a homeless person would. Except, the type of change he is asking for is not physical coin, but rather actual change for our world. This piece of artwork is expressing to the audience how we need change in our societies, in many places all over the world. Homelessness is a controversial issue that most people try to ignore, but it is not that simple. In 2017, when I first saw this piece, I had already been homeless for at least six months. I never panhandled, but I knew plenty of others who did; which is the main reason why I can relate to this piece. In order to get the proper image he wanted, Banksy used a stencil to get the perfect straight lines, plus details, in which we see he accomplished. Lastly, all of Banksy's artwork is done on the side of buildings, or architectural structures, but it was so perfect to put this painting on a red brick building. Whenever we see homeless people panhandling in the city, most of the time they are sitting cross legged against a building, with a cup (or object like it) in hand or on the ground by them. All-in-all, this piece is so powerful in many ways and it is a good start to help people understand what is going on.
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; There is so much stigma around those who end up in these situations, and it is not okay. I also think that you chose a beautiful image to capture the idea of homelessness: a man asking for a change in the world instead of coins.
As you said, Banksy cleverly painted this image on the wall, adding a genius element. Adding to this, I think the lighter shade of red and the light shining on the poster contributes to the idea that we need to "shine the light" on the topic of homelessness.
Thank you for sharing a link to an article about the meaning of the painting. It gave me a better insight!
Do you know if this artist has any more artwork that I can check out?