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War, Capitalism and… Liberty? Or Freedom?

  • Maria Vittoria di Sabatino
  • 20 giu 2016
  • Tempo di lettura: 2 min

With the Quartiere Ostiense emerging as the street-art district of Rome and with an increasing number of galleries displaying street art in the city center, the Fondazione Roma Museo chose the right time to allow a retrospective solo show of the world’s best-known contemporary street artist. More than 150 works by Banksy are on exhibit at Palazzo Cipolla, including some of his memorabilia. In fact, War, Capitalism and Liberty is the largest Banksy exhibition ever organized. The exhibition was named after the main themes that the artist has focused on throughout his whole career and which have made his art so profoundly different from his early contemporary colleagues, such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The strength and irony of his visual statements have earned Banksy his fame and the shadow of mystery he has deliberately cast upon his identity has created a legend.

Banksy, Pink Kate Moss, 2005, Private Collection

We begin the exhibition path by encountering the first theme, war, to the left of the entrance. A quotation by the artist explains that “a wall is a very big weapon; it's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.” The artist is fighting through communication and awareness, aiming at reaching the masses using irony. However, war is the one theme that takes our smile away, no matter how ironic the artworks. Slowly, the heavy awareness of war veers into the bitter fun of capitalism, accompanied by colorful rats and surrendering chimps. Lastly, we enter liberty, or freedom. Here, we find the very first works by the artist and it is possible to trace back to the roots of his activist work.

Banksy, Exit Through The Gift Shop, 2014, Private Collection

Street art has never been academic, but a rather vivid phenomenon; not only for its mass visibility but also because of the immediacy of its references. By using widely known events, images, and characters, the artist can make a vast majority of people to assimilate his artistic expression. By not being publically acknowledged, critics or contradictions cannot attack Banksy. He (or she) became identifiable as an idea, as an unspoken entity whispering suggestions, and therefore more than a person.

Banksy, Morons, 2013, Private Collection

War, Capitalism and Liberty

Fondazione Roma Museo Palazzo Cipolla

24 May – 4 September

Address: Via del Corso 320

 
 
 

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