The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Banksy — Forever Stamped

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(Pic #1) A Banksy mural metaphorically slamming Putin and the Russian Federation

The work of mysterious British muralist “Banksy” now joins the virtual time capsule of images created by artists chronicling the war in Ukraine. The recent work by the iconic street artist is being immortalized by “Ukrposhta” — the Ukrainian National Post Office — as a 2023 postage stamp. The release marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The image depicted on the Banksy stamp is a photograph of a mural he painted in the city of Borodyanka. (Pic #1) “A little boy who knocks out a grown man is an allegorical image – this is the struggle of Ukraine against the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian postal service said.  In the picture, a young boy uses the art of Judo to flip the man, and it is well-known that Mr. Putin has passion for Martial Arts, and has reportedly earned a black belt.  The illustration is accompanied by six Cyrillic letters that stand as a not-so-veiled shorthand for “Putin, go fuck yourself.”

(Pic #2) The grand flip-off by a Ukrainian soldier to a Russian Warship (Postage stamp)

George Orwell once quipped that “every joke is a tiny revolution.” Ukrainians are proof positive of this premise, as Ukrposhta has now printed more than 30 politically-charged images painted by Ukrainian artists. Many believe  comedy — and irreverence — is the country’s way of coping with unfathomable trauma. One local comedian interviewed by Associated Press suggests simply that they are “using humor as a weapon to keep spirits up.”

On another stamp, (Pic #2) you see a Russian warship approaching a group of Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island in the Black Sea, ordering Ukraine’s surrender. The guards responded — while flipping the bird —“Hey, Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”

Are you seeing a pattern here?

 

Who Says It’s Art? You Do

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Banksy on Hustler door NYC 4tlr

(Pic #1) Banksy street art ambushed onto the security door to Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. (2013)

Guest post by Josh Kaplan

I often ask Lonnie (to her unending annoyance) why a Jackson Pollock canvas can sell for millions of dollars, while a piece she did to show some students the method Pollack used, is worth nothing. I point out, the two paintings look pretty much the same. She always explains, that Pollack created a new dimension to modern art, a new genre, something that had never been done before, and therefore had an intrinsic value that copycat work could never match.

It’s a reasoned argument. It makes perfect sense, but to me it has a degree of mysticism attached to it, if not a degree of hogwash. Which is why I noted with glee the experience that some New Yorkers had over the past month.  The infamous graffiti artist Bansky, trying to prove whatever latest point he was trying to prove, set up a stand in Central Park selling some of his original works. He also arranged for a cameraman to record the whole thing.

 

For those of you who follow art, you know that Banksy’s work fetches hundreds of thousands of dollars. Each. He had his representative sitting there with 40 originals ambien comparison priced at 60 bucks apiece.  They looked like Banksys, the sign guaranteed they were original Banksys, but at the end of a long day, the poor guy sitting there had sold 7 pieces. Total.  $420 bucks.

Once the story got out, and all those New Yorkers realized they had blown their chance to make a financial killing, there was the expected hand wringing. So no big surprise that a week later, three artists opened up a booth  selling admittedly bogus Banksys. Fakes. Replicas of the 40 originals that no one wanted the week before. Each painting even came with a “Certificate of Inauthenticity.”  They sold out. Fast. The artists said they did it to complete Banksy’s point about the nature of hype and art.

So what is the moral of the story? There really isn’t one, except perhaps this. As I have seen with Lonnie over and over again,  anyone involved in an artistic venture faces a powerful temptation to allow a critic, or potential buyer determine for you the worth of your creation. That is often a heartbreaking proposition. It’s hard not to take it personally, but the next time it happens to you, try to remember, you are selling an original masterpiece, but your audience may have their heart set on a cheap imitation.

 

Graffiti — Art, Crime, or Both?

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(Pic #1) Stunning wall of distressed doors and windows from Brazil — “Art In The Streets” – MOCA

New exhibit demands our attention.

The debate is raging in Los Angeles right now, where the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporay Art has launched a comprehensive, controversial exhibition called “Art In The Streets,” which will remain open through August 8th. That should give you plenty of time to judge for yourself on how the exhibit – showcasing 50 world-famous graffiti artists’ life work – should be defined, or positioned in art history. Check out this small sampling, and  then get downtown.

Calligraphic installation by “Retna” named after a Wu-Tang Clan song (aka Los Angeles-based artist Marquis Lewis)

"Cosmic Cavern" neon installation by Kenny Scharf

Mister Cartoon's "International Ice Cream Truck" 2010

Paper installation by "Swoon"

Street art by "Andre" extends into Geffen Ladies' Room. "Anabelle" said to be his GF.

Installation in a dark corner by "Neckface" considered "the scariest" in the exhibition.

Henry Chalfont documents subway car art -- "a way to overcome our faceless anonymity."

Painting by Dondi White - "Born Again" (1986)

Los Angeles street art pioneer Chaz Bojorquez

"Pissing dog" installation by Banksy

Banksy wall sculpture - fine print on bottom says: "...to the nearest art dealer."

Banksy enlisted the help of 8th and 9th graders at City of Angels School for his floor-to-ceiling "Stained Glass Window."

Vibrant abstraction by "Futura" (Leonard McGurr)

An authentic urban voice

Personally, I find this kind of raw visual ambien expression packed with high energy and substance.  It reminds me that so much great art comes from unexpected places. Our culture would never be as diverse or as rich if it were not for the countless new voices from the inner city — showcasing themselves through rap, poetry and dance.  MOCA’s street art show, much like rap, allows for those authentic voices to be heard in a public forum.

However — Saying the MOCA show “glorifies graffiti,” the L.A.P.D. and L.A. County Sheriff’s Department both report that instances of vandalism are up in the surrounding area, Little Tokyo.

But MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch says the LAPD is overreacting and that the “anarchy” displayed by the street art subculture was to be expected. He also reminds street art critics that MOCA is cleaning up after the renegade artists.

Censorship or Sensitivity?

In the meantime, Deitch has done some “cleaning up” of his own. The former NY art dealer ordered a $13,000 museum-commissioned mural by Italian street artist “Blu” white-washed off the side of his own building.

A brief appearance: Anti-war mural by Blu, white-washed by MOCA

The anti-war image (seen at right) pictures a line of coffins covered in dollar bills. Critics call the white-wash “censorship.” Deitch calls it being sensitive to the neighborhood, home to a Veterans’ hospital and a war memorial to Japanese-American soldiers. The work, therefore, was considered “inappropriate.” And it’s gone.

The irony is obvious. As the L.A.Times points out—Street art is inherently “fugitive by nature, and vulnerable to being destroyed by angry shopkeepers who just don’t appreciate the creativity.” But here, the same museum that commissioned the radical work — also wiped it out. Apparently, Deitch had not asked to see a sketch.

Now that’s art.