Graffiti Art

“He is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. Always controversial, he inspires admiration and provokes outrage in equal measure.”(Joseph,2008,para1). Banksy became involved in graffiti art during the aerosol boom of the late 1980s in Bristol. He Started off in the classic New York style. When he started to stencil  he says he felt the power, ruthlessness and efficiency, it was perfect, stencils are more political they have been used to start revolutions. Banksys work is mostly political and often humorous and pulls some ridiculous stunts. At London Zoo, he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in seven foot high letters. His art has appeared in cities around the world  and he has collaborated with other artists, anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment messages appear in most work. Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti.  Art auctioneers have been known to sell his street art on location and leave its removal in the hands of the winning bidder. His identity has been kept a secret , His agent has refused to confirm or deny reports of the true identity of the artist  it has been widely reported and is thought to be Robert Banks, Robin Gunningham. Bankys himself states, On his website “I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being ‘good at drawing’ doesn’t sound like Banksy to me”.

Born in 1960 Brooklyn New York ,Basquiat quickly rose to fame with his graffiti at a time when the art market began to boom and art became the interest of many investors. As an early graffiti artist he literally exploded onto the art scene this sudden fame and money was difficult for him to control and comprehend and many people think this may have been a contributing factor to his death of an  overdose at only 27 .

He was accused by friends of selling out of the graffiti movement by becoming a part of the established art scene .Early on in his career he met Andy Warhole and other prominent figures in the art scene of the time. In 1977 he was 17 and his Samo graffiti was published in the news .In 1980 he made his entry into the established art scene as part of the time square show. His choice of heroes in his art ranged from black musicians and sports men whom he honoured to martyrs and victims of society or their own life styles .His talent was remarkable given his lack of formal artistic education. His style and expression showed fieriness, he could depict the terrifying ,the shattered and the unconnected and often used  demolition and contempt for any kind of visual unity. One of his influences had been Picasso and another Jackson Pollock who's influences  you can see in his work.

Cut Collective is a group of 6 Auckland artists working with primarily stencils and spray cans, Component, Enforce1, Flox, Kool and Trustme are working together to get as much exposure as possible.

They say that they couldn’t have come as far individually. The Cut Collective often collaborate with other artists on a wide variety of art projects both on the street and at exhibition events.

All members of the Cut Collective have histories in commercial art and design, and have done commission artwork and  mural painting throughout  Auckland.