| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £3.55
Trade in Wall and Piece for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £3.55, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Listed as the #2 book in the "LJ Bestsellers--Arts" titles
Book Description
The collected works of Britain's most wanted artist
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Breath of Fresh Air,
By
This review is from: Wall and Piece (Hardcover)
Banksy may be the most well-known (and notorious) graffiti artist in the world, but there is a lot more to him than that. There is a strong case for arguing that he is one of the most important conceptual artists in Britain (although I sure that he would blow a big raspberry at such a pretentious claim and say that a conceptual artist is just someone who can't draw!). Banksy's art makes some of the most 'happening' members of the Britart establishment look tame and stale and I suspect that in 100 years time, he will overshadow Damien Hirst. But if that sounds too pompous, I should add that this is one of the funniest and refreshing books I've read for a long time. It is a tribute to Banksy's genius that he can make you laugh, but also make a serious point about the society we live in. Banksy argues that it is crazy that we outlaw graffiti, but allow companies and corporations to plaster their messages all over our walls, trains and buses. I don't completely agree with this - an indecipherable graffiti 'tag' is boring and doesn't enhance a public space, whereas Banksy's pictures are witty and thought-provoking. However, it is refreshing to have an artist who genuinely challenges the status quo, rather than relying on cheap gimmicks and shock value whilst selling their art to Charles Saatchi for thousands of pounds. This is a book that would make a good present for lots of people (my 65-year-old mother-in-law loved it) but buy one for yourself first!
88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THANKS BANKSY,
By A Customer
This review is from: Wall and Piece (Hardcover)
I ordered this book on the strength of a strand on UK television about the artist. What a fabulous book. Although I'm almost of pensionable age and more likely to admire the works of Vermeer I found myself totally in tune with Banksy - and screaming with delight at some of the pieces. He can come and do my gable end any day!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Art for the people,
By
This review is from: Wall and Piece (Paperback)
Don't get me started on this, but...
If there's one thing guaranteed to get under my skin, then it's the way art has been hijacked by a few artists, exhibitors and buyers and transformed into a variant of the idiotic high fashion market, where only the happy few who are up to date with new lines of thought know what on Earth is going on. When Britain's only well-known artistic prize can be won by en empty room with a light bulb going on and off then the proverbial man in the street may feel that art, which surely should be for us all, has become elitist and irrelevant. And so along comes Banksy, with art for the literal man in the street. Maybe it's that I collect super-hero comics, but I just love the whole secret identity thing. In a culture that is so sated with the idea of celebrity, here's an artist who doesn't want to be recognised so that he can be free to get on with his work. How refreshing is that? But more, I love the work. Witty, thought provoking and, when at its best, as when pictures are painted on the wall the separates the Palestinians from Israel, they're downright powerful. (And to Banksy's great credit, he includes a brief conversation with an old Palestinian man which argues persuasively against creating art on the wall). Don't be fooled by the low price, it's a big book with hundreds of pictures. And don't pay attention to the couple of reviewers who complain about the quality of the printing. Honestly, I don't know what they're on about. It's fine. Highly recommended.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
