Banksy
Reading some of the threads on the site I noticed some people praising a graffiti artist named Banksy. I am wondering if those they are aware of this Banksy piece.
<!-- m -->http://rantchick.com/wp-content/uploads ... ackson.jpg<!-- m -->
Banksy - Michael Jackson - <!-- m -->http://www.nowpublic.com/banksy_michael_jackson__<!-- m -->
December 7, 2006
Controversial British graffiti artist BANKSY has made fun of MICHAEL JACKSON in a new drawing which went on exhibition in London yesterday (01DEC06). Banksy's drawing is inspired by classic children's tale HANSEL AND GRETEL and features Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation last year (05), crouching in the doorway of a cottage holding out a sweet (candy) to a young girl and boy.The shock artist - famed for doctoring 500 copies of PARIS HILTON's debut album PARIS - says, "I feel the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised more and more."His Jackson drawing is displayed in Santa's Grotto, which is exhibiting graffiti, art and sculpture.
Hansel and Gretel - <!-- m -->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel<!-- m -->
Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter. When a great famine settles over the land, the woodcutter's second, abusive wife concocts a plan to take the children into the woods and leave them there to fend for themselves, so that she and her husband, with two fewer mouths to feed, might not starve. The woodcutter opposes the plan but finally, and reluctantly, submits to his wife's scheme. The following morning, the family treks into the woods. Hansel takes a slice of bread and leaves a trail of bread crumbs for them to follow home. However, after they are once again abandoned, they find that the birds have eaten the crumbs and they are lost in the woods. After days of wandering, they follow a beautiful white bird to a clearing in the woods, and discover a cottage built of gingerbread and cakes with window panes of clear sugar. Hungry and tired, the children begin to eat the rooftop of the candy house, when the door opens and a "very old woman" emerges and lures the children inside, with the promise of soft beds and delicious food. Their hostess is a "wicked witch" who waylays children to cook and eat them. The next morning, the witch locks Hansel in an iron cage in the garden and forces Gretel into becoming a slave.
In Banksy's drawing Michael Jackson is being depicted as the "wicked" person luring young victims into the cottage with candy. Not a very flattering portrayal of Michael Jackson, an innocent man, falsely accused of molestation and found not guilty in a court of law.
<!-- m -->http://rantchick.com/wp-content/uploads ... ackson.jpg<!-- m -->
Banksy - Michael Jackson - <!-- m -->http://www.nowpublic.com/banksy_michael_jackson__<!-- m -->
December 7, 2006
Controversial British graffiti artist BANKSY has made fun of MICHAEL JACKSON in a new drawing which went on exhibition in London yesterday (01DEC06). Banksy's drawing is inspired by classic children's tale HANSEL AND GRETEL and features Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation last year (05), crouching in the doorway of a cottage holding out a sweet (candy) to a young girl and boy.The shock artist - famed for doctoring 500 copies of PARIS HILTON's debut album PARIS - says, "I feel the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised more and more."His Jackson drawing is displayed in Santa's Grotto, which is exhibiting graffiti, art and sculpture.
Hansel and Gretel - <!-- m -->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel<!-- m -->
Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter. When a great famine settles over the land, the woodcutter's second, abusive wife concocts a plan to take the children into the woods and leave them there to fend for themselves, so that she and her husband, with two fewer mouths to feed, might not starve. The woodcutter opposes the plan but finally, and reluctantly, submits to his wife's scheme. The following morning, the family treks into the woods. Hansel takes a slice of bread and leaves a trail of bread crumbs for them to follow home. However, after they are once again abandoned, they find that the birds have eaten the crumbs and they are lost in the woods. After days of wandering, they follow a beautiful white bird to a clearing in the woods, and discover a cottage built of gingerbread and cakes with window panes of clear sugar. Hungry and tired, the children begin to eat the rooftop of the candy house, when the door opens and a "very old woman" emerges and lures the children inside, with the promise of soft beds and delicious food. Their hostess is a "wicked witch" who waylays children to cook and eat them. The next morning, the witch locks Hansel in an iron cage in the garden and forces Gretel into becoming a slave.
In Banksy's drawing Michael Jackson is being depicted as the "wicked" person luring young victims into the cottage with candy. Not a very flattering portrayal of Michael Jackson, an innocent man, falsely accused of molestation and found not guilty in a court of law.
Comments
oops...attachment quota is reached so I can't post the pic...
Michael said to Geraldo Rivera that true artists don't make fun of each other.
I like this sentence about the artists very much! So true. I wonder if Eminem heard it... <!-- s:roll: -->:roll:<!-- s:roll: -->
I reset the attachment quota, it should work again.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Thank you Souza
Not necessarily, It can go either way.. Everybody knows MJ loves children, so he painted a protray of Michael being generous, giving candies to children. Like he did in Neverland, he had a candy bar, full of m&m smarties ice cream etc.. Maybe this will show how wonderful Michael's heart is.. This is my interpretation. I could be wrong. But there is always 2 sides of a story.
So even if the context may appear obvious here at the first glance, one shouldn`t dismiss this piece out of hand.
I haven`t seen it before but I must say, I find it pretty interesting. I like, how Banksy illustrates loneliness in his pictures - a lot of characters in his motives seem to be lonely in one way or another - and I like the questioning overtones in his works. Banksy makes intelligent art.
A while ago, we´ve talked about the "Pied piper of Hamelin" here on the board - and as far as I remember, the "Pied Piper" in the story wasn`t a nice guy either... <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) -->
http://www.tmz.com/2011/02/24/paris-jacksons-grimm-audition-brothers-school-play-theatre-michael-good-morning-america-gma-interview/
And Banksy has got a humanitarian side to; he recently bailed out 2 Russians Graffiti artists. See article below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12645902
With L.O.V.E
This article is from 2006. Brangelina paid big money for a number of Banksy pieces, INCLUDING the Michael/Hanzel and Gretel piece. They are going to display this piece of art in their home full of children? Does not make too much sense to me. Thoughts?
- Why? What exactly do we see when we look at this picture?
By "placing“ the beholder behind the kids`s back, Banksy virtually invites us to take their perspective on this scene. I see a secluded cottage with a lonely looking MJ who reaches out and offers a candy cane to two kids, who seem to be lost and alone theirselves in this dark inhospitable landscape. The bright colors of the candy distinctly stands out against the dull background. Somehow it appears to be the only promising object within the gloom of this motif. (Maybe the candy symbolizes a pure kind of joy or happiness within a dark world?)
The depicted gesture of M. doesn`t appear threatening to me, more the opposite. He bends down to the kids height and I see something very accomodating in his posture, humbleness and also gratitude, almost as if he was much obliged that someone finally found his/her way through the dark to visit him.
We don´t see the children´s facial expressions but judging from their body language, they appear to be rather curious and attentive than anxious. All these things considered, I see the encounter of three lonesome characters who seem to be happy that they´ve found each other in a hostile environment.
Btw it would be quite interesting to hear the opinion of a child on this picture.
Possibly a first reaction could be: „There´s no Gingerbread house, no witch – this isn`t Hansel & Gretel“. Just a thought... <!-- s:geek: -->:geek:<!-- s:geek: -->