Bombing with Banksy & Co, The Graffiti and Street Art of Shoreditch and Spitalfields

A Lecture by Pepe Martinez on 9 October 2024 @ The Arts Society Horsham

In this visually stimulating lecture, Pepe Martinez guided us on a kind of psychedelic journey from The Capitol Theatre in Horsham to the Subway of New York, the streets of London, Paris and Berlin.  We got to know the lingo, the history and the techniques of graffiti art and the names that rose to fame such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat whose death at aged 27 bestowed his iconic status.

Armed with our new lingo, we then embarked on a colourful virtual tour of Shoreditch and Spitalfields where we were bombarded with literally larger-than-life art work by amazing names like Zabou, Mr Cenz, Jimmy C, Phlegm, Fanakapan, Stik, D Face and many others whose nocturnal creations scramble the height of buildings, daubed on doorways and shop fronts in this vibrant and diverse neighbourhood - Fashion Street, Brick Lane … all exuding a special vibe.  We learnt about the graffiti war among artists as well as their friendship and respect for one another.  Pop culture, social commentary and political satire all find expressions in a stencil, a tag, a throw, or in neon 3-D!

And then there is Banksy -  whose early piece “Girl with Red Balloon” is best known to us.  It acquired cult status on 5 October 2018 when it appeared to shred itself in the auction room at Sotheby’s after the hammer went down for the piece.  It was pure theatre!  The shredded work was renamed “Love is in the bin” and instantly multiplied in value for the new owner.  There have been other playful stunts by Banksy but all the while the man remains an enigma and we were none the wiser after the lecture!  Ironically, we were left with a quote by Banksy who was reported to have said: “It’s amazing that no one wants to know who I am until I don’t want anyone to know!”.  One thing we do know is that there is a lot of bucks in Banksy - so much so he has established Pest Control to guard his multi-million empire!

Our experience of graffiti art?  It’s dynamic, dark, cheeky, provocative and much more! It’s been a blast bombing with Banksy & Co!