...Banksy? Art or Vandalism?...

"In a world with no rules....one man broke them all"

Contemporary graffiti artist Banksy, (whose identity has been never been revealed), has become alot more popular over the last few years. His ironic, outspoken and often funny works have gained alot of attention, and have caused many arguments with critics, mainly "Is it Art? Or is it just vandalism?"

I find his work very inspiring and interesting as he says what many people are thinking and don't want to say. It also sends a powerful message to people with a shock value that many other artists don't have. I love graffiti as art and Banksy is defiantly my favourite graffiti artist.

His work has appeared all around London, and even in other places around the world. He uses his own unique style of graffiti, often using stencils mixed with well know artworks, to promote aspects of politics often ignored by mainstream media. His most identified pieces are his rats which can be seen holding signs saying things like "London Doesn't Work", ""You Lose" and "Go Back To Bed". He has also added his stencil touch to "Water Lilies" by Monet (Entitled Show Me Monet), the famous picture of the 9 year old Vietnamese girl running by Huynh Cong Ut (having her run with Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald) and even Queen Victoria. He has managed to hang a piece of his own work inside London's Tate Modern and also in New York's Museum of Modern Art and American Museum of Natural History.

On March 5th 2010, a humorous and ironic film documentary about street artists, including Shepard Fairey, Thierry Guetta and Banksy was released. Banksy's face is never revealed and his voice is distorted through out the film to hide is identity. I have yet to see the film, but as it more ironic and not based on the real life of banksy i'm not really in a rush to see it.

References -

• http://www.banksyfilm.com/
• http://www.banksy.org.uk/
• http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_photos_thumb_011.htm

...Edward Burtynsky...

Edward Burtynsky is a Photographer and artist born in 1955 and has since become one of Canada most respected photographers. He mostly does documentary photography that shows how man/manmade industry has affected landscapes. He studied Graphic Art at college and then went on to become a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Photography at Ryerson University and then became a lecturer on photographic art. He has hosted alot of exhibitions including Before the Flood (2003) and China (2005-2008), which have been shown not only in Canada, but across the States and also in Europe.

His images are technically perfect showing alot of depth and detail, usually of landscapes that have been affected by industry, such as shipyards, mines and scrap piles. His photographs are taken on a large format field camera, usually 4x5, and a printed to become high resolution pictures. The reason i chose to blog about him is because I find his images very powerful as they show a man Vs nature theme, and even in the images that show scrap heaps there is a certain beauty about them. The above image of his is my favourite of his. I love the contrast and the impact it has. The framing is great too, and i like how the lava at the front of the image looks hot, while the trees in the distance seem cold.

He has recently came out with a exhibition that was released as a book, titled Oil (2009), that shows a decade of photography that explores the subject of oil and its uses. I tried looking for the book but I couldn't find it :(

References -

• http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/
• http://www.lensculture.com/burtynsky.html
• http://www.kochgallery.com/artists/contemporary/Burtynsky/index.html
• http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/Sections/Statement_CV/Bio.html

...Lee Friedlander...

"Central Park, 1992" - Lee Friedlander

Ok, so this my attempt at a blog entry, and i'll start by talking about one of my favourite photographers: Lee Friedlander. I enjoy his style, and the mystery and mood that is present in his photographs is something that I try to create in my own.

Lee Friedlander was born in 1934 in Aberdeen Washington and first started photography taking pictures of Jazz Musicians for album covers. His early work is known for his self-exploration that can be seen not only in his cultural statements but also his self-portraits. He has said that his biggest influences are Walker Evens and Robert Frank. He has used many different cameras in his time, from a Lecia M Series 35mm camera to a Hassleblad Super-wide Medium Format Camera. Because of this, Friedlander's style has changed somewhat. 15 years ago his photographs reflected his knowledge at the time: he would use fences to frame his images, showing that he would chose and carefully plan to structure his framing. Bu his images would still come out great. Nowadays his images are more luminescent and naturally structured.

He created a series called "Stems" while suffering from arthritis. He was housebound, and had to do what many other artists and photographers do and make use of the things around him. (I recently had this experience myself). He took pictures of flowers his wife would place around the house, but was allot more interested in the stems. It was published before having his knee joints replaced since his "limbs" reminded him of stems. These images where said to be less textured than what is seen in his older work, but shows a strange period during the photographers career. He was sat in his chair at home rather than out in the city streets, woods, road or at parties.

References -

• http://www.fotopriority.com.au/2009/09/quote-a-day-lee-friedlander/
• http://www.schaden.com/book/FriLeeSte03006.html
• Lee Friedlander - The museum of modern art