Laughing all the way to the Banksy?

The Art of Banksy
The Paddock, Federation Square (the dodgy car park, behind the Fed Square car park). Melbourne
7 October 2016 - 31 January 2017

Some time ago, I found myself in Melbourne, with a Banksy exhibition on my doorstep. I've always been intrigued by Banksy and his art. And, yes, I do think it is art, even though it is stencil and spray-paint and not always even by him. I find his ideas interesting, and warm to the way he takes the personal and makes it political. I know it has been described as crude and simplistic, but I find it inspirational in its clarity. It is direct and accessible and refutes the notion that art is for the elite. It is self-referential and deprecating in equal measure, and literally brings art out of auction houses and into the streets.

I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit (2007)

And yet an exhibition such as this takes it off the streets and puts it back into the gallery. Artwork such as Barcode Shark, Festival, or Consumer Jesus decry the fundamental ideas of capitalism, while there is, of course, a gift shop, selling these images on t-shirts, postcards and mugs begging the question who is the mug, here? One exhibit actually features t-shirts hung as works of art rather than clothing, further confusing the boundaries between ideology and practicality.

There is no exception to the rule that everyone thinks they're an exception to the rule - Banksy

Consumers of this art are being ridiculed even as they admire it. We must face the consequences of our desire to scorn the herd, just as we are a part of it. And we may want to feel special and different, but we aren't. And that hurts. 

Have a Nice Day

This exhibition was curated by Steve Lazarides, a British art gallery owner. Having studied photography at Newcastle University, he was working on a photo-shoot when he met Banksy and became his agent. He subsequently launched the website 'Pictures on Walls' to promote street artists and urban art. He and Banksy parted ways in 2008 and yet he obviously still champions his former client's work - again one wonders whether the relationship is amicable and mutually beneficial. 

Rude Copper

The majority of the paintings in this exhibition were originally exhibited and sold in some of Banksy's seminal shows, which included two of the artist's most well-known; Turf War which took place in Dalston in East London in 2003, and Barely Legal in Los Angeles 2006.

Lazarides explains that with the ability and skill to exercise a wide palette of contrasting techniques and mediums, these inside works retained the same motifs and ideas that were presented in the outside street pieces. The difference, however, was that they were created with the intention of being viewed within the context of an exhibition environment. While an outside street piece was always created to be transient - there one minute and gone the next - Banksy's inside paintings instead required the scrutiny of a longer view. These artworks would instead potentially be admired for several lifetimes.

Girl with Balloon (gold)

The Art of Banksy features over 80 pieces of original art and screen prints in a pop-up gallery on The Paddock at Federation Square. It does not have Banksy's permission and is therefore an unauthorised exhibition. But if you attack corporations for greed and insist that all work should be public, can you criticise the curators for holding such a show?

The Burger King Kid

"It is not my place to give you my opinion on what these pieces are about. That privilege lies with the artist and I'm pretty sure that isn't something he'd ever do. You as a viewer have as valid an opinion on these works as either me or Banksy. They mean whatever you, the viewer, think they mean - there is no right or wrong." - Steve Lazarides

Flower Thrower (on tarpaulin)

Dorothy Police Search

Many of these spray-painting images have become ironic icons. From the flower-throwing rioter to the American soldier searching Dorothy's basket, the pictures are dripping with sarcasm and subverting authority but also tinged with hope. They seem to say that if we recognise that rampant capitalism is eroding our freedoms and poisoning our communities, then others will too. And perhaps there is a a glimpse of a brighter future. Even the trashed Mini has a stencil of the girl with the hope balloon near the empty fuel tank.

 

The smiley face features heavily in this exhibition. Now used as an emoji - a symbol of happiness when vocabulary fails - the classic design by Harvey Ball in 1963 represented sunny hedonism to raise the morale of employees at State Mutual Life Assurance Company. In the early 1970s, two brothers based in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain, added the words 'have a nice day' to sell novelty badges and other paraphernalia to a nation determined to forget the traumas of Vietnam. 

It also suggests the late-80s acid house culture, when the logo appeared on acid tabs implying that one could only have a good time by getting out of one's head because 'real' life was too banal and depressing. Thus a simple child's drawing became hijacked by a number of corporations (Wal-Mart tried to trademark it in 2002) which makes it ripe for inclusion on Banksy's work.

Smiley Grim Reaper

Smiley Angel Policeman

Naturally one would expect a street artist to be anti-capitalist and against rampant consumerism. In this regards, Banksy doesn't disappoint.

Festival

Barcode Leopard

Very Little Helps

Consumer Jesus

Barcode Shark

By taking art from its hallowed walls and desecrating traditional-style paintings Banksy gives art back to the people. He seems to intimate that it should belong to us all, and that we should all be able to see it, rather than it disappearing into the hands of private collectors - which turns full-circle when his own alternative prints are hung in galleries, sold at auction and hidden from public view.

Turf War

Bullet-proof David; Suicide Bomber (2006)

 

Banksy did a series of 'defaced' work in which stencilled imagery is sprayed upon a found canvas, perhaps purchased from a flea market or salvaged from a dumpster. He was known for sneaking into art galleries and hanging his works alongside Old Masters, complete with interpretive panels explaining the 'hidden meanings'.

Violence and the resulting fear is another common theme - whether painting military weaponry or police brutality towards protesters, he frequently highlights the scaremongering and fear which grips nations. This corporate violence leads to a death of innocence, which he seems to decry - using powerfully deceptive imagery in stylistic silhouettes, such as might be found in a child's picture book. Personal possession, which denies communal appreciation seeks to own and control rather than share.

Warning Sign

Bombing Middle England and Weston-Super-Mare

La American Flag

Kids on Guns Hill

Pooh Bear Trap

"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet." - Banksy

His artwork is temporary and ephemeral, but never whimsical. It is often painted over, or dismantled, if it is in the form of installation art. Just before the gift shop was an installation of an old-fashioned sweet shop with jars of sweets, looking like simple treats. On closer inspection they bore copies of his protest images - something to sugar-coat the pill, perhaps?

Obviously the gallery couldn't recreate these impermanent exhibitions, but it included photos and videos of them, to spread the word and the ideas.

 
 

He is a keen animal rights campaigner, which makes sense for someone who gives voices to those who need most support. In Sirens of the Lambs, a slaughter wagon full of cuddly toys was driven around the streets of New York. He has previously spray-painted sheep (the RSPCA deemed their treatment was humane) and included a live elephant in a room, which he instructed people not to mention. 

But perhaps his most famous animal creation is the rat; pressed into service for propaganda and sloganeering, it equally represents the trapped commuter we recognise who gets stuck in the maze of making money to survive.

Throughout the exhibition are signs exhorting us to take photos and to share this stuff - art is not the preserve of the elite; it belongs to the masses. And yet we were charged $30 to enter - and there were queues to get into the tent in the 'dodgy carpark' behind Federation Square. 

Is Banksy laughing all the way to the bank? Is he now part of the establishment he set out to rail against? Has he well and truly passed the tipping point? I like his ideas and his presentation of them, so I don't care if he is swimming with the current of the dreaded mainstream. And I get the impression that he doesn't either.

Friday Five: Best of Beervana

Beervana has always been one of my favourite beer festivals. And when I say 'always', I mean from 2005 when I first went to it. From the early days in the basement of The Old Bank Arcade through the wilderness years in the Overseas Passenger Terminal, and the muscle-flexing times at the Town Hall, to its current incarnation at the Stadium. I've met people here who have become friends; I've formed memories and lost others; I've seen brewing trends come and go; I've seen hops, hops and more hops; and I've tasted many many beers.

A couple of hoppy people peering through the lights

This year I flew back to Wellington for the weekend. Direct flights between the New Zealand and Australian capitals were clearly meant to assist politicians, but the added benefit for beer drinkers is pleasantly palatable. I saw friends and family (and the much-mentioned four seasons in one day) and (according to my records on Untappd), I drank 62 beers. This was the best of the booze (in alphabetical order).

5 Favourite Beers:

1. 8 Wired Brewing Wild Feijoa (6.7%) - when he tasted this, Him Outdoors made a sound a bit like a kookaburra; 'Woohoohohohohohahahaha!' I think that means he liked it. I did too - it's sour and tart and packed with fruit flavour and for the first time ever feijoas don't taste like soap.
2. Behemoth Brewing Company Brave Bikkie Brown (6%) - Exceptional! Coconut and biscuity bready spices supported by a great English brown ale.
3. Emerson's Brewery Barrel Proof Imperial Stout (11.5%) - Decadent Imperial stout with big boozy flavours and fantastic balance of malts.
4. Te Aro Brewing Company Flanders Red Ale (7.6%) - Sour red, oak-aged funk with strong base malts: insanely good.
5. Yeastie Boys Royal Tanninbomb (8%) - I love this earl grey tea marvel. Two of my favourite things (tea and beer) are combined by one of my favourite brewers. The tannins in this brew are perfect.

Stu McKinlay and me

 

Behemoth Brewing Company had this whole beer and sweet matching thing going on; the theme was a chocolate factory with helpful oompa loompas in orange t-shirts handing out treats (chocolate fish; coffee beans; spoonfuls of nutella; Anzac biscuits) to enhance the flavours of the beer.

5 Favourite Breweries (Based on a complicated points system I can no longer remember):

1. 8 Wired Brewing
2. Behemoth Brewing Company
3. Kereru Brewing Company
4. Lakeman Brewing Co
5. Yeastie Boys

Tasting paddles from Kereru

Fabulous kereru head-dresses for the people serving the ale

Versailles: A Palace for a King

When I lived in France I went to Versailles several times. A couple of times I went inside the palace and gawped at all the opulence, but most of the time I just strolled around the gardens, sat by the fountains and enjoyed the more intimate surroundings of the Petit Trianon. When I heard that an exhibition was coming to the National Gallery of Australia 'featuring the treasures of the palace', I went along to see how these objects would reveal themselves out of context.

I had always found the grandiose nature of the palace quite oppressive and it's hard to focus on single objects when surrounded by such glittering wealth and shiny bling. Those who have never been there could get a feel for the place by standing against a backdrop of the Hall of Mirrors.

Louis XIV transformed Versailles from a humble hunting lodge built by his father into a vast luxurious palace. The construction took place over nearly half a century from 1662, in times of peace with pauses during the many wars of this period. The architect was Louis Le Vau; the overall designer and decorator was Charles Le Brun, the King's First Painter; and the gardens were designed by Andre Le Notre.

Louis XIV's image as an absolute monarch was reinforced throughout Versailles with royal insignia, allegorical reference and classical iconography. The king is shown in the guise of Apollo, the ancient Greek God of the sun - hence his title, The Sun King - or represented as a Roman Emperor.

At Versailles, Charles Le Brun's designs included every detail, from great ceilings enriched with stucco and paintings, to polychrome marble panelling and gilded wooden doors, down to intricate handles and locks. The highest standard of materials were employed: porphyry; alabaster; coloured marbles; ebony; and other precious woods, silver, gilding and mirrors.

Sculptures appear everywhere. Reliefs are set into the building's interiors and exterior. Portrait busts or life-size figures, often from antique models, stand in niches or adorn corridors, tabletops and mantles. A large number of bronzes and marble works are featured in the gardens. As well as Apollo, we find examples of classical mythology, such as Latona, Flora, Ceres, Bacchus and Saturn.

A guiding principle of Versailles was that it must, above all, represent French taste, design and craftsmanship. The palace was inspired by Italianate traditions and, although many of the artists commissioned by Louis XIV were Italian or Flemish, the King's patronage was essential in establishing France as a centre for arts and culture. Versailles became an ideal to which the rest of Europe could aspire. I recently enjoyed watching Season One of Versailles. It is probably woefully historically inaccurate but it casts the Palace as a character itself as Louis XIV dreams of building a monument to the glory of France surtout. My affection for the place enables me to overlook the series' faults,

In 1662 Louis XIV acquired the great Gobelins workshop and supported it with major royal commissions such as tapestries and carpets. These tapestries and paintings record some of the interiors and spectacular works of art at Versailles, many of which no longer exist. When a coalition of European powers joined forces against France in December 1689, the king was obliged to melt down his famous silver collection to fund the war effort.

Louis XIV visits the Gobelins with Colbert, 15 October 1667 - The tapestry is from the series Histoire du Roi commissioned by Charles Le Brun and woven between 1667 and 1672. 

In 1665 six bronze vases were commissioned by Louis XIV to house orange trees. Janus heads, sphinxes, satyrs and chimeras demonstrate the king's enthusiasm for classical images and motifs drawn from mythology. While none of Versailles' famous silver furniture survives, these vases offer a rare glimpse of the goldsmith's craftsmanship and convey an idea of the lost furniture.

 

Unlike the Sun King whose entire life was on display, Louis XV and his grandson Louis XVI preferred to live more privately at Versailles. On the death of his great-grandfather in 1715, Louis XV took up residence in Paris but returned with his court to Versailles in 1722. New suites of apartments were constructed, deliberately conceived as private spaces with a skillfully devised system of concealed doors set into the wood panelling or behind hangings. Access to Louis XV's Petits Apartments was restricted to a few favoured courtiers.

Madame Adelaide at her writing table in her apartments at Versailles (1776) - Louis-Lie Perin-Salbreux

New informality and  domesticity appear in images of the royal family and aristocracy. We see people promenading, enjoying music and relaxed dinners, and partaking in fashionable indulgences such as drinking chocolate. Changing styles and an enthusiasm for new technology and the exotic is reflected in furniture and other objects. Cold marble is replaced by the warmth of wood in all its forms: parquetry; wall panelling; gilded scrolls; and the combination of colours and patterns used in cabinetry.  

The Royal Family in 1782

 

 

The dauphin's desk was part of a refurbishment of the South Wing apartments for the marriage of Louis-Ferdinand to his cousin Marie-Therese Raphaela of Spain in 1745. It was used for barely two years. Following his wife's sudden death in July 1746, the dauphin was obliged to remarry and the apartments were again fitted out.

 

There are some really rather gorgeous pieces, such as this clock and this whatever-it-is decorated with a crab. When seen all together they are often too much, but in this isolation, they are simply splendid.

Versaille's Labyrinth was located west of the Orangerie in the southern part of the gardens. Originally conceived by Andre le Notre in 1665 as an undecorated maze, the crossroads of each path were furnished in the 1670s with 39 fountains decorated with 330 painted lead animals illustrating classic parables. These new additions were inspired by the publication of Jean de La Fontaine's Fables 1668, dedicated to Louis XIV's six-year-old heir.

About twenty artists worked on the fountain sculptures; the naturalism of the figures produced suggests they were likely inspired by the animals in the nearby Menagerie. Each group was accompanied by Isaac de Benserade's verse summarising the fables. The Labyrinth was one of the most popular parts of the garden. Visitors could find moral truths hidden within the remarkable scenes. Among these were that all people were not created equal and the evils of social ambition.

After years of neglect the maze was replaced in 1774 by the Queen's Garden. Only thirty-five animals, and the statues of Aesop and Cupid from the entrance, survive. Fortunately the maze was immortalised in Labyrinthe de Versailles 1679, which includes descriptions, Benserade's poems and Sebastien Leclerc's etchings of each fountain group.

 

Gardens were Louis XIV's passion. In less than twenty years the unpromising site of Versailles was transformed into a showcase of France's wealth, power and prestige. During the ancien regime the estate of Versailles occupied 15,000 hectares: the formal garden around the palace; the Petit Parc for carriage rides around the Grand Canal; and the Great Parc reserved for the hunt. The palace grounds now cover an area of 815 hectares, the area of the old Petit Parc.

Andre le Notre, Louis XIV's first landscape designer, included fifteen groves laid out on either side of the Royal Avenue. These secluded 'salons of greenery', garden rooms contained by densely-planted trees and hedges, were settings for activities such as walking, dining, music, play, and entertainment. Subject to changes in taste and fashion over the years, areas of the gardens were constantly altered and rebuilt - even demolished and replaced. In 1676 Jules Hardouin-Mansart began redesigning the garden. He created new groves with a marked architectural character, including the Colonnade Grove built in 1684. Three hundred sculptures decorated the parterres, avenues and groves, creating an open-air museum in the park of Versailles.

Perspective View of the Three Fountains at Versailles (1689-91) - Jean Cotelle

The kings of France had a passion for hunting. The sport served to initiate young princes and to educate them in the art of war. As a child Louis XIV developed a fondness for his father's hunting estate and the forest of Versailles. With its long wooded avenues suitable for galloping, the Grand Parc spread far beyond the boundaries of the Petit Parc. Many types of hunting were practiced: falconry; shooting with dogs to flush out pheasants, partridges or hares; and big game such as deer, boar and wolves.

Hunting was considered an entertainment on par with theatre, ballet and opera. On average Louis XIV, XV and XVI hunted every third day. An invitation to join the king was considered a mark of favour as court customs dictated that members of the royal family hunted only with those closest to them. As a result, being permitted to share the king's intimacy and take part in the traditional débotté or removal of boots was much coveted, as was the meal served in his private chambers on return from the hunt.

The grand dauphin's hunting dogs (1702) - Alexandre-Francois Desportes

Versailles was conceived to host celebrations, showing the king in all his magnificence. Courtiers and foreign visitors were drawn to the royal residence as witness to these events. Numerous engravings assured the fame of the king's 'divertissments', recording the feasts, fireworks and other activities in their most remarkable and yet ephemeral of moments. The management of the king's entertainment required a special department, the office of the Menus-Plaisirs (royal entertainment).

Military or diplomatic victories, births or marriages of princes gave occasion for the most extravagant of celebrations. Over the span of several days feasts alternated with dinners, masked balls and fancy dress, plays and operas, lotteries and carousels, and finished with fireworks and illuminations. The fireworks astonished with flashes of silver and gold, their frightening thundering noise sometimes amplified by the sound of canons. 

Fifth Day: Fireworks on the Canal at Versailles - Jean Lepautre

These events reached their peak in 1674 when the Grand Canal was lined with magical scenes all lit up at the same instant by a regiment of soldiers. In 1770 for the wedding of the dauphin and Marie-Antoinette, the entire gardens were illuminated by 16,000 lamps lit in less than three minutes.

The Masked Ball given in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, 25 February 1745 - Charles-Nicolas Cochin

On the marriage of the dauphin to Marie-Therese, Infanta of Spain, Louis XV had the grand Apartment decked out for a masked ball. He dressed as a topiaried tree (accompanied by seven courtiers dressed in identical fashion) surrounded by figures in a range of fancy dress, including those in bizarre Turkish-style costume with over-sized heads.

Under Louis XVI when celebrations became less frequent at Versailles, royal entertainment centred on the Petit Trianon. Marie-Antoinette hosted music and theatrical events, opening her estate to visiting guests who experienced 'divertissments' on a more intimate scale.

Marie-Antoinette's night festivities at the Petit Trianon (1785)- Claude-Louis Chatelet

Louis XV and his mistresses, first Madame de Pompadour then Madame Du Barry, spent considerable time at the 'Marble Trianon' or Grand Trianon. Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Grand Trianon was a place for parties and country outings. With suites opening directly onto the parterres, boundaries between the inside and outside dissolved. The flower garden, a tribute to the goddess, Flora, housed the rarest blooms. The king's interest in science led him to botany and in 1750 his three gardens housed more than 4,000 plant species.

In 1762 Louis XV had Ange-Jacques Gabriel design a new small house, the Petit Trianon in the emerging neoclassical style. The square exterior has Corinthian columns and plasters on the facades. Flowers dominated the interior - on the wood and upholstery of chairs, on the inlaid furniture, on bronze and porcelain - designed to please the king's new favourite - Madame Du Barry.

 

However at the death of Louis XV in 1774, Marie-Antoinette took possession of the Petit Trianon. Its modernity and remoteness from the main palace and court etiquette appealed to the new queen. She spent increasing amounts of time there with only her closest friends. The last phase of the Petit Trianon was the Queen's Hamlet, a series of buildings with a rustic character: farm, cottage, mill, dairy, barn and dovecot. In this reconstructed pastoral idyll Marie-Antoinette indulged in simple pleasures such as drinking milk, fishing and walking in the fields. 

Queen Marie-Antoinette (1783)

Part of the 'Pearls and Cornflower' service

The Pearls and Cornflower service commissioned by Marie-Antoinette in 1781 was probably intended for the Petit Trianon. The service comprised 283 pieces - required for a full French-style dinner suite for 24 people - and took many months to complete. Cornflowers were the queen's favoured motif and appear throughout the decoration at the Petit Trianon.

The Palace at Versailles epitomises the complex absolute monarchy created by Louis XIV, elements of which continued through the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. However, the extravagance proved unsustainable and, although the king attempted reforms, it was too late. By 1788 France was bankrupt. 

Through the formation of the National Assembly in 1789, political power shifted to the people. On 20th June 1789 the deputies of the National Assembly congregated in an indoor tennis court in the district of Versailles and, in what was to become a pivotal moment in the history of the French Revolution, pledged an oath 'not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established.'

The Oath of the Tennis Court at Versailles, 20 June 1789 - Jacques-Louis David

In October the Palace was stormed and the king and queen were forced to live in Paris under a kind of house arrest. The royal family never again occupied Versailles. The monarchy was formally abolished in September 1972. Many items from the palace were dispersed, including at auctions between 1793 and 1794. Versailles was designated a museum in 1797 and later, in the 1830s, became the Museum of the History of France. 

The Palace and its gardens were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and, from 2003, have been the subject of an ambitious restoration and renovation programme. Many objects have been returned, either from the holdings of public museums or purchased from private collectors. The interiors and gardens of Versailles continue to reflect the glamour and opulence of court life under Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI.

Louis XVI writing his testament in the Temple tower, 20 January 1793 - Henri-Pierre Danloux

Raging Laughter with Julia Morris

Julia Morris - Lift and Separate
Canberra Theatre Centre

Julia Morris is a woman of a certain age - those are her words; not mine. Apparently this calls for age-appropriate clothing, botox and homicidal hormonal rages. She plays to (and with) her audience, which is largely female, and shares knowing laughs with them on a range of tailored topics.

Beginning with an exhortation to the audience not to use their phones, she helpfully poses in a variety of attitudes which she says we may recognise throughout the show. These involve delightfully undignified positions which she allows the audience to capture with their mobile cameras before turning off the devices - this fun but no-nonsense approach sets the tone for the evening.

Hindered and abetted by a slide show, she highlights images of her daily tribulations in retail outlets as she tries on ridiculous clothing and claims to be haunted by inverse body dysmorphia - she always thinks she looks gorgeous. Because of her willingness to mock herself and her self-deprecating charm, she quickly wins over her audience and they soon join in the laughter and the wry smiles.

We all know what it's like when a minor incident irritates us beyond all proportion and we get angry at the tiniest misdemeanour. But we probably can't articulate this feeling as amusingly as she does. While we may wince for the hospitality staff who bear the brunt of her outbursts over the time one can serve eggs or the rationing of towels in a hotel, we are more entertained than empathetic.

Julia explains her heavy workload may have added to her inner ball of fury. As she worried that her market value would wane with her advancing years, she seized every opportunity to increase her profile. This leads to highly intimate anecdotes of her time in African jungles filming I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, but it also frames a very real issue.

Women everywhere struggle with the personality changes and hormone imbalances that accompany ageing and menopause. Many of them suffer in silence, but not Julia; Julia turns it into comedy material. This is brave and brilliant. I loved it.