Banksy and Stencil Based Art: Truth or Propaganda?
The anonymous British artist, Banksy, has built up a reputation for creating subversive artwork that is in the public domain. He started out as a graffiti artist, but what marks him out is the subversive content of his work. No one is safe from his observations- he attacks and mocks authority figures, the consumer culture, our infatuation with celebrities and the art world itself.
Banksy's method of production has led to the visual qualities that are typically associated with his 2-d works. These stencil based pieces are the only way that he can apply paint onto a wall or surface in a public space and then make a quick getaway. Given that defacing walls in public spaces is a crime, he won't be wanting to linger around for very long when making the artworks! The stencils are prepared in the studio and then used with spray paints, sometimes in several layers. You'll be using similar techniques for your own work. |
Research Activity
Your research activity is to produce a short essay in your sketchbook with the title: "Banksy: Truth or Propaganda?"
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Resources for your research activity
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Studio Activity
Design Brief:
Your Brief is to produce a stencil-based image. It will function as a message that you are trying to communicate about a situation of significance. You'll need to brainstorm these ideas for yourself (Climate change? Global Poverty/ unequal distribution of wealth or resources? Conflict? Politics?) and then to translate these into a design based on image and text. You'll be producing this in three colours (the base colour of your surface + 2 more colours).
The base colour will be made up of textured, abstract layers of paint. The further two colours will be added with spray paint.
(The final versions of these can be viewed in the gallery here.)
Your Brief is to produce a stencil-based image. It will function as a message that you are trying to communicate about a situation of significance. You'll need to brainstorm these ideas for yourself (Climate change? Global Poverty/ unequal distribution of wealth or resources? Conflict? Politics?) and then to translate these into a design based on image and text. You'll be producing this in three colours (the base colour of your surface + 2 more colours).
The base colour will be made up of textured, abstract layers of paint. The further two colours will be added with spray paint.
(The final versions of these can be viewed in the gallery here.)
Process:
- On a page in your sketchbook, use a spider diagram to brainstorm ideas.
- On a second page in your sketchbook, stick in a range of research images that will function as a mood board and be a response to your brainstorm activity.
- On a third page in your sketchbook, generate a range of thumbnail images exploring what your design might look like.