• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Banksy Addresses the Elephant in the Room

September 14, 2006 by Andy Towle

Banksy_la_1

I’ve been posting a lot about the British street art prankster Banksy lately. His recent stunts —replacing 500 Paris Hilton CDs with doctored artwork and remixes and planting a hooded Guantanamo detainee behind the fence at Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain — have been followed up with a “secret” L.A. warehouse show, Barely Legal, in which the artist addresses the elephant in the room, literally.

For his first L.A. show — the address of which media was only given two hours before the preview — the irreverent Banksy features a real elephant painted in a pink and gold pattern meant to blend in with the background of its living room set.

I wonder what PETA has to say about that?

The show also features samples of his street art and references to his recent stunts — a pile of Paris Hilton CDs crawling with roaches.

Journalist Sorina Diaconescu told the BBC: “I don’t feel particularly incensed at the fact that he painted a live animal. But I think he’s treading a pretty thin line and it’s part of his charm…I’m not sure that Banksy’s work carries a particular message. The medium is the message and in this case just the very fact that there is an elephant in the room, the proverbial elephant in the room, is what he’s trying to say, period.”

Banksy told the L.A. Weekly what the real point of the show is:

“This show has been quite a big undertaking for me; it represents nearly a month of getting up early in the morning. Some of the paintings have taken literally days to make. Essentially, it’s about what a horrible place the world is, how unjust and cruel and pointless life is, and ways to avoid thinking about all that. One of the best ways turned out to be sitting in a warehouse making 50 paintings about cruelty, pain and pointlessness. You get immune. I painted one picture of a Western family eating a picnic in a village of starving African children called I HATE EATING MY DINNER IN FRONT OF THE NEWS, and got so obsessed with painting each and every fly on those kids’ faces, I never once thought about a starving kid for a second.

I guess the show is about wanting to make the world a better place whilst not wanting to come across like a jerk. Imagine what would happen if we took all the money we spent on weapons and gave it to the poor. Then I’d have to grow my own cocaine; my manicurist would kill me.”

‘Guerrilla artist’ Banksy hits LA [bbc]
Absolute **** [la weekly]

Banksy2_2 Banksy3 Banksy4

You may have missed…
Paris Hilton “Screwed” by Graffiti Artist Banksy [tr]
Banksy Hits Disney [tr]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Art and Design, Banksy, Los Angeles, Paris Hilton

Recent Posts

  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    4 hours ago
  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    9 hours ago
  • ‘Where They Countin’ the Votes?!’: New Video Details Tense Moments as Capitol Mob Sought Out Lawmakers — WATCH

    ‘Where They Countin’ the Votes?!’: New Video Details Tense Moments as Capitol Mob Sought Out Lawmakers — WATCH

    10 hours ago
  • Capitol Police Officer Gives Chilling Account of Being Dragged Down Steps by Trump Mob: ‘Kill Him with His Own Gun!’ — WATCH

    Capitol Police Officer Gives Chilling Account of Being Dragged Down Steps by Trump Mob: ‘Kill Him with His Own Gun!’ — WATCH

    10 hours ago
Previous Post: « Uruguay to Allow Civil Unions
Next Post: News: Ann Richards Dies, Julian McMahon, Banned Gay Books »

Primary Sidebar

  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

  • ‘Where They Countin’ the Votes?!’: New Video Details Tense Moments as Capitol Mob Sought Out Lawmakers — WATCH

Recent Posts

  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    4 hours ago
  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    9 hours ago
  • ‘Where They Countin’ the Votes?!’: New Video Details Tense Moments as Capitol Mob Sought Out Lawmakers — WATCH

    ‘Where They Countin’ the Votes?!’: New Video Details Tense Moments as Capitol Mob Sought Out Lawmakers — WATCH

    10 hours ago
  • Capitol Police Officer Gives Chilling Account of Being Dragged Down Steps by Trump Mob: ‘Kill Him with His Own Gun!’ — WATCH

    Capitol Police Officer Gives Chilling Account of Being Dragged Down Steps by Trump Mob: ‘Kill Him with His Own Gun!’ — WATCH

    10 hours ago
  • Brie Larson ‘Gay’ Comment Sends Internet into a Frenzy: WATCH

    Brie Larson ‘Gay’ Comment Sends Internet into a Frenzy: WATCH

    11 hours ago
  • No One Will Take Responsibility for That Abraham Lincoln Bust Seen Leaving the White House

    No One Will Take Responsibility for That Abraham Lincoln Bust Seen Leaving the White House

    11 hours ago
  • Cindy McCain Reacts to Arizona GOP’s Plan to Censure Her for Supporting Joe Biden and Gay Marriage: ‘I Think I’m Going to Make T-Shirts’ — WATCH

    Cindy McCain Reacts to Arizona GOP’s Plan to Censure Her for Supporting Joe Biden and Gay Marriage: ‘I Think I’m Going to Make T-Shirts’ — WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Trump Has Forbidden Mention of Richard Nixon in the White House

    Trump Has Forbidden Mention of Richard Nixon in the White House

    13 hours ago
  • DOJ Has ‘Strong Evidence’ That Trump Insurrectionists Planned to ‘Capture and Assassinate Elected Officials’

    DOJ Has ‘Strong Evidence’ That Trump Insurrectionists Planned to ‘Capture and Assassinate Elected Officials’

    13 hours ago
  • Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    Forbidden from Using Any of Jared and Ivanka’s 6 Bathrooms, Secret Service Spent $100K+ to Rent Toilet in Tony D.C. Neighborhood

    1 day ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in