NMA- blog 7

Find an example of an idea/image/etc being ‘appropriated’. Look for media or advertising for examples. Do you think this example is ‘appropriation’, as we defined in the context of the artistic world, or do you think it could/does border on plagiarism or copyright issues?

Banksy a famous unidentified UK graffiti artist has many artworks that can be considered appropriation. Below is a series of art he has ‘appropriated’ from the Mona Lisa. His work always has a deeper meaning and a lot of the time he just adds to something that may already be there. 

He pushes the limits with appropriation and copyrights. Appropriation basicly is the the use of borrowed elements in the creation of a new work. In the visual arts, to appropriate means to properly adopt, borrow, recycle or sample aspects of man-made visual culture. Strategies include "re-vision, re-evaluation, variation, version, interpretation, imitation, etc. Appropriation can also refer to the new work itself.

This is a classic example of what Banksey does, he “stole” this quote from Pablo Picasso who said, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal."

In 2005 artist Banksy secretly installed his own artwork in four of New York’s major art museums: The Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Natural History. He went in during opening hours and stuck his artwork up on the walls between famous paintings. Asked how he was able to hang his works without being noticed by museum guards or security cameras, Banksy responded rather opaquely. "You just have to glue on a fake beard and move with the times," he said. He also stated that “I've wandered round a lot of art galleries thinking, 'I could have done that,' so it seemed only right that I should try," he wrote. "These galleries are just trophy cabinets for a handful of millionaires. The public never has any real say in what art they see." Below is a still image of Banksy putting up his artwork in the museums’, each image complete with a legitimate name plaque and explanation.

Below are a few more appropriated artworks by Banksy-