Art Today

One of my S1 classes had been talking about graffiti art a few weeks ago and I had introduced them to the British artist Banksy. I was interested when one of the pupils excitedly came into class today asking me if I’d seen the news this morning.

Apparently Banksy has opened his first official exhibition in New York. I laughed when I looked at the BBC website and the video link. The exhibition takes place inside a fake pet shop and includes a number of robotic ‘animals’. I asked those that had seen the report did they think that Banksy was trying to make some kind of comment…immediately they responded that they did and he was commenting on how animals were treated and what people did to them. Of course, upon enquiry, they loved the chicken nuggets eating the dip the best!

Image from www.banksy.co.uk

It was great though, just listening to them getting animated about something they had seen, that they could also relate to as we had talked about it in class. It made me wonder about all the artists and designers we talked about as part of the curriculum. Here were 12 year olds actively discussing an artist who was making a comment about modern day life…and they understood it. I’ve often found some contemporary artists difficult to teach, particularly at S1 level. Perhaps it’s my own hestitations that makes it more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, it’s so important to give a background history to art and design and such a rich, diverse and wonderful history it is. But, does it really stir the imagination of todays youth in the same way that Bansky Howson would. These artists portray life as they know it, so all the more relevant.

Now there’s a debate that could become heated!

~ by zoewalker on October 10, 2008.