Art Analysis
Cave Painting by Banksy
The piece is street art created by Banksy, a well-known though anonymous graffiti artist, political activist and film maker.
At first glance the work appears to be a photograph of a worker cleaning graffiti from a wall on a public street. Then on closer inspection one realises that the man with the pressure cleaner is actually part of the work. The man appears to be standing in front of the picture behind due to the difference in styles used to create him and the picture behind. The man is most likely stencilled, as is typical of Banksy’s style and intentionally placed in the picture to draw the observer’s attention to him and what he is doing. He is more detailed and precise, though his features are intentionally obscured by the artist, then the remainder of the piece. Shadowing has been used to create the perception of depth and space between the man with the pressure cleaner and the remainder of the painting which is why he stands out so much and appears much closer than the rest of the picture.
It is then that the eye is drawn to the remainder of the piece. Initially it appears abstract and childlike, nothing at all like the man with the cleaner. One would suppose that the piece was in fact created by two different artists with opposing styles until they look further and realise that this was the intent of the artist. The work behind the man is a reproduction of a style which is most likely American Indian in origin. The figures are primitive, stick like characters which depict hunters surrounding their quarry which are larger more detailed depictions of animals resembling buffalo and deer.
It is painted as it would appear on an ancient landform and uses greens, browns and yellows to create the appearance of moss and other characteristics which could be found inside a cave or on a rock wall in a natural environment. The artist does this intentionally to create the impression in the mind of the...