Banksy and Damien Hirst: a 2-in-1 shampoo?

Stencil by Banksy - Picture by Nick Stern

Are Banksy and Damien Hirst a 2-in-1 shampoo?  This weird question has been haunting me for weeks and, to tell you the truth as crazy and pointless as it may be, it still is as I am writing this post.

When did the craziness strike me?  Well, I guess you can thank Dokoupil and the German magazine 032C*.  Weeks ago I read an interview of this artist named Dokoupil.  Asked by the journalist who his favorite artist of the present was, he answered Damien Hirst whom he says that he “also runs a successful sub-label as Banksy.”**

Wait a minute.  What did I just read?  Was this guy serious?  No.  He couldn’t be.

A few questions later, asked whether he was convinced that Hirst is Banksy, he replied “Absolutely.  Someone that I have known for decades and whom I trust one hundred percent, someone who really must know told me that Banksy is Hirst invention.  It would also explain why Banksy has kept his identity a secret until now (…).”***

Obviously, he was.

Probably like many others before me, I have always thought that Banksy never revealed his identity to avoid prosecution.  Indeed, despite the beauty of his art, Banksy remains for the rigid right-minded people a criminal.

So, if not for this article, Dokoupil’s theory would have never crossed my mind.  But the more I reflected on it the more I started to wonder why not after all.  Both Banksy and Hirst are from Bristol, which is a strange geographical coincidence, and both are almost the same age (yes, the same age; 47 and 38 are almost the same age).

Nah.  Those are very meager coincidences.  It doesn’t make sense, does it?

At that point of my divagation, something however was trotting in the back of my sick mind.  This something was nothing less than Banksy’ s movie “Exit through the gift shop”.

In this movie, Mr. Brainwash (undoubtedly Banksy’s creation and maybe Hirst’s too if Dokoupil is right) compares himself to Hirst.

Don’t you find this reference intriguing?

I do to the extent where I am really wondering right now if in the end I am not being brainwashed by the the Banksy-Hirst 2-in-1 shampoo!

Alda

* 032C – n°22

** Page 143 and 144

*** Page 144

Street Art on Rue Saint-James - Bordeaux

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Above Pitt: The Sky

Diego Rivera: a trend spotter before time

Picture by Diego Rivera

I could not leave Mexico City without paying my tribute to Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera.  With few hours to kill before departing, I decided to make a quick visit to the Casa Estudio, in San Angel, and the Casa Azul, in Coyacan.  

Despite the traffic jam which caused a few sweat drops to ruin my hair, I managed to get to Rivera's studio at the opening time.  I was thrilled!

There is a special aura in this place and, honestly, I could not help but feeling deeply moved once in the large living room where Rivera had his studio.  It's as if Rivera had just left the house and is going to come back in a few minutes.  At the center of the studio, the master's large blue jacket covered with paint stains lays on the sofa.  On the floor, one pair of his gigantic shoes. His paintbrushes are still there. 

The place is filled with magic. The daylight that penetrates through the large windows illuminates the place. Outside, it's all quiet.  It's all green.  You can ear birds sing.  It's hard to believe that you are 30 minutes way from downtown Mexico City.  The time seems suspended but, unfortunately, it is not. 

If I want to say hi to Frida, I've got to go.

The Casa Azul is not far. 

I love Frida, not only for her paintings, but for what she represents (to me), i.e.  Woman with a big "W".  

On arriving at Calle de Londres, I couldn't wait any longer.  

The first thing you notice when you penetrate the large wooden entry door is the colors (the  external walls are painted in electric blue) and the vegetation.  It's a haven of peace disturbed by tourists like me.

In the house, the spirits of Frida and Diego are omnipresent, embodied in the many paintings, letters, photographs and furniture on display. I was under the spell.  

In one of the rooms, I came across the following photographs, taken by Diego Rivera while he was traveling to South America, that I really wanted to share with you.

Looking at these pictures, it feels like the characters are our contemporaries.  Don't you think?  The look in their eyes.  Their poses.  Their outfits.  Yes, their outfits!  They are incredibly stylish and modern.  It's as if things did not really change between the time of these prints and today.

If I dared, I would say that those photographs look like the ones one can find nowadays on some fashion blogs.  After all, what if Diego Rivera had been a trend spotter before time ?

What do you think when you see these shots ?  Do they inspire you ?  Let me know.

Alda Mori

Ai Weiwei... Mouais...

Few weeks ago, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I resolved to do something to stimulate my brain numb with too much alcohol from the eve.  So I decided to do something really (not) innovative; I took my ass to the Berenice Abbott exhibition with the certainty that I wouldn’t be disappointed.  And indeed, I spent one hour admiring the many photographs on display (over 120 pictures), my favorite ones being Jean Cocteau with a gun and Jean Cocteau’s hands.

Enthusiastic about what I just saw I undertook to stop by the Ai Weiwei exhibition.  What a (half) mistake!  I found it uninteresting except for the New York and Beijing photographs.

The next Monday morning, while enjoying a coffee break and debriefing about the weekend with a colleague, I started a debate about the Chinese artist.

-“I swear.  It was boring.”

-“I cannot believe it. One of my friends told me that it’s one of THE best exhibitions at the moment.”

-“I don’t know. I kinda don’t understand the pointed finger stuff. The perspective?  My ass.  It is so cliché!  But maybe I am too stupid.”

End of the discussion.

Two days ago, the same colleague burst in my office apparently willing to share something highly important: her opinion.

-“I went to the Ai Weiwei exhibition.  Amazing!  Seriously, how can you say that it’s not interesting?”

-“Well, I just don’t get it.  It’s not because someone is a political activist that what this person does qualifies as Art.”

-“Really?????  Now, I don’t get it.  Did you at least read the captions?”

-“Yeah!  And?  A picture should be self-explanatory.  If you need a caption to get the point, then it’s like a holiday picture that you serve to your bored but patient friends with lots of lousy excuses. ”

-“Well, I don’t share your point of view.”

-“Guess what? That’s democracy baby! “

So yes, as an artist, Ai Weiwei… it’s mouais…

Alda Mori

P MAX

P MAX
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"When I hear about order it smells human flesh"

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