For this independent trip, I decided to go to the Banksy Museum mainly because I was not familiar with who Banksy is or his artwork. From the discussions in class, I sensed that he is an anonymous artist who does graffiti on the walls of popular cities. I was interested in checking it out and when I left the museum, I was more appalled than satisfied by what I saw.

Upon entering the museum, I saw one of Banksy’s works that seemed to have some contradicting elements. The work is titled “The Mild Mild West” and it was one of Banksy’s first murals. The title is a play on the words “the wild wild west”, which I picked up on quickly, but I was distracted by the teddy bear holding a Molotov cocktail. It was aiming to throw at the approaching riot police officers dressed in black. How could a sweet, innocent children’s toy be turned into such a violent person with no expression to its actions? To say that this is the mild west is an understatement. Banksy used irony to portray the theme of non-conformity, which is a concept society is familiar with, but the approach taken was not for me.

I continued following the blue arrows directing me where to look next, and at every turn, I saw another piece of “artwork” that exaggerated its message. For example, the piece titled “Toxic Mary” angered me because the point Banksy was attempting to convey was not the common consensus. In the piece, the Virgin Mary is holding a baby and is feeding it a bottle of poison rather than milk. Banksy wanted to show how the influence of caregivers can be toxic and that a child has no control over how their life will turn out. I strongly disagreed with Banksy’s view because the role of caregivers and parents is to protect, guide, and love the child. No one is out to harm the child, and while they may have no control in the early stages of development, it is not accurate to say that they are on a fixed path they cannot get off of.

Within this small museum, I would say there was a handful of hypocritical artwork that stood out to me. One of those was titled “Snorting Copper”, highlighting how even law enforcement breaks the rules they are suppose to enforce. The cop’s eyes reflect his guilty conscience and fear of being caught. Another one was titled “Grannies”, emphasizing how compassionate the older generation is towards youth’s rebellious ideas. Typically, the older someone gets, the more conservative they are in their actions, but these grannies seem to be still living out their good old days.

I cannot say that I was displeased with the experience entirely. There were some funny works of art, such as “Aachoo! (Old Woman Sneezing)” and “Hula-Hoop Girl”, but that did not hide what Banksy’s true mission is with his art. Most of the art had a very judgemental perspective, whether it be portraying the weaknesses of government officials as apes or adding in a weapon/firearm to an innocent children like drawing. Would I call Banksy’s work art? No. There was not a lot that I agreed with and the more I saw, the quicker I wanted to leave the museum. Personally, I do not understand the fascination with someone who promotes false beliefs or propaganda, but to each their one.