Inspired by Banksy

Bansky is one of my all time favorite artists. He is currently doing a residency in New York City for the month of October called Better Out Than In. Each day he posts where he has left a piece of his street art or installation and people flock to check it out before it is defaced by other street artists or plain old jerks. You can see what he has been up to each day this month at www.banksyny.com. Here is his work from today:

I am currently launching a unit of study on his month's body work at school with my seventh graders. I'm curious to see what the youth of New Canaan can decipher from his political activism and sarcastic social commentary. 

Last year, I dug up a few old reproduction paintings by Van Gogh that the former art teacher at my school used for visual reference. Since they were covered in mold and seriously faded, I decided to put a 'Banksy' twist on them. Although he is primarily known as a street artist, I was inspired by work he did a few years ago where he snuck into museums and galleries and hung his own work next to priceless masterpieces. These first four examples are by Banksy:

Banksy

Banksy

Banksy

Banksy

I up-cycled these three dusty Van Gogh canvases and hope to dig up more soon. I want to acknowledge these are directly pulled from Banksy works I was inspired by. I give Banksy full credit for the concepts.  I just hoped to show my students first hand how to make statements within their art that is more global and far reaching than their soccer fields and cheer leading squads. These are hanging in my art room:

Van Gogh & Beatman, inspired by Banksy

Van Gogh & Beatman, inspired by Bansky

Van Gogh & Beatman, inspired by Bansky