Tag Archives: 2019

London: Banksy – Gross Domestic Product Installation

During the busy Frieze Art week 2019, elusive artist Banksy has opened a new pop up store overnight in Croydon, South London called Gross Domestic Product.
In a statement Banksy mentions it follows a legal dispute over Banksy’s trademark.
“[It is] possibly the least poetic reason to ever hold an art show,” Banksy says.


@Banksy

The homeware store – essentially a window display that will never actually open—is selling a range of items, from mugs, spray cans, prints, t-shirts to editions of the stab vest worn by the artist Stormzy at Glastonbury, welcome mats hand-stitched by women in detainment camps in Greece. The objects have all been installed in a series of window displays along with often-reproduced paintings such as Banksy’s Flower Thrower.


Prices start at £10, but the merchandise range will only be available to buy online after the shop shuts in two weeks. Until then, collectors will have to settle for window shopping. Proceeds from the merchandise will go to purchase a boat for the refugees to replace the one that was confiscated by Italian authorities.

Banksy says an unnamed greeting card company is contesting his trademark rights to his own name and imagery, “so they can legally use it to sell their fake Banksy merchandise”. He adds: “I think they’re banking on the idea I won’t show up in court to defend myself.”
Describing Banksy as “the most infringed artist alive”, DACS chairman and media lawyer Mark Stephens says: “What you have here is frankly ludicrous litigation, but the law clearly states that if the trademark holder is not using the mark then it should be handed to someone who will.” His solution? Create a merchandise range and open a shop.
Everything in the store “has been created specifically to fulfil a particular trademark category under EU law”, Banksy says. “I had the legal sheet pinned up in the studio like a muse.” He adds: “John Lennon said: ‘I’m an artist, give me a tuba and I’ll get something out of it.’ I feel the same way about a trademark dispute.”

“If Banksy wants to keep enforcing any of his trademarks in courts around the world, and avoid the risk of them being cancelled for lack of use, he will need to show judges stronger evidence of his brands being used in the market,” Enrico Bonadio, a senior lecturer in intellectual property law at City University of London, noted at the time. “This probably means he needs to start regularly producing and selling his own branded merchandise through a specialised commercial vehicle. The problem is that Banksy is a contradictory character. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started a proper business plan, while also continuing to send out his anti-consumerist message,” he says.

Banksy stresses that, despite trying to defend his rights in this particular case, he hasn’t changed his position on copyright. “I still encourage anyone to copy, borrow, steal and amend my art for amusement, academic research or activism. I just don’t want them to get sole custody of my name,” he says.

 

 

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Toulouse: Rose Beton Biennale 2019

Rose Beton 2019 - MOMO
MOMO

The third edition of The ROSE BETON FESTIVAL becomes a biennale dedicated to urban practices and cultures in Toulouse. National and international artists continue to  invade the Pink City walls and cultural venues.

Back in  2016 legendary graffiti artist FUTURA painted a train carriage in the courtyard of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Toulouse, Les Abattoirs ( see our coverage here ).

The 2019 edition, co-curated by TILT and Nicolas Couturieux, pursues the expansion of the ‘open air gallery’ with outside walls painted by RERO , MOMO, JEROEN EROSIE, MADEMOISELLE KAT, MOSES AND TAP, HENSE as well as installations by MARK JENKINS.

Rose Beton 2019 - MOMORose Beton 2019 - HENSERose Beton 2019 - HENSEHENSE

Rose Beton 2019 - EROSIE
EROSIE

Rose Beton 2019 - RERO
RERO

Rose Beton 2019 - MLE KAT
Mademoiselle Kat


Installation by Mark Jenkins © Benjamin Roudet

The second part of the Rose Beton Biennale will kick start on  26 September with an exhibition featuring works and installations from TANIA MOURAUD, TODD JAMES and CLEON PETERSON inside The Abattoirs, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Art Paris Art Fair 2018
Tania Mouraud Guest of honour of the Rose Beton Biennale

Cleon Peterson - Victory
Cleon Peterson

Todd James - Fantasy Island
Todd James

Many events, mediation, tours, workshops, and conferences are scheduled throughout the Rose Beton Biennale. For full programme, please visit the website

Photos © Butterfly Art News unless otherwise stated

ROSE BETON BIENNALE
26 September 2019 – January 5, 2020
Les Abbatoirs
76 allées Charles-de-Fitte
31300 Toulouse

 

Banksy stunt during the Venice Biennale 2019

During the opening of the Venice Biennale a few stencils appeared across the city which gave indication of the presence of the elusive British artist.
While still unconfirmed yet, a politically charged piece shows a young child wearing a life jacket and holding a pink flare up in the air, a migrant calling for rescuers. It was spotted on the island of Dorsoduro.

On Banksy’s website and his social media the artist posted a video in Venice with following comment
‘ Setting out my stall at the Venice Biennale.
Despite being the largest and most prestigious art event in the world, for some reason I’ve never been invited.’

The stall presents a series of small oil paintings featuring a large cruise boat over the Venice canals

The popped up stall is reminiscent of his New York stunt in 2013 where he sold his canvasses for $60 to passers by.

 

Stay tuned for further update.

Banksy News

Three major headlines related to Banksy

London: Banksy enters the permanent collection of the British Museum

The British Museum in London has acquired its first work by the anonymous artist, a fake £10 banknote depicting Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, which will join its collection of coins, medals and other currency.
The work, entitled Di-faced Tenner, was one of thousands of copies produced by the artist in 2004 as part of a planned art performance. Unlike ‘Peckham Rock’, a fake cave painting on concrete , which was part of a 2005 stunt and loaned again to the museum for a recent exhibition on dissent and protest in 2018 (see our coverage here), the note has been donated to the museum by the artist’s representative Pest Control.

It is the only official banknote ever released by Banksy. Any other kind of currency note are simply NOT by the artist, so fans and buyers beware. And the Banksy Di-Face Tenner indicates on its back ‘Trust No One’.

Palestine: Banksy creates a new artwork at the Walled Off Hotel

Two years after the official opening his artivist hotel in Bethlehem, Banksy just revealed a new artwork inside the Walled Off Hotel.

Conveying a message of Love and Peace, the artwork depicts a little veiled girl playing with coloured 3d block shapes looking at a giant heart shaped hole in a concrete wall which shows a neon light blue sky. Looking closer the 3D block shapes on the floor are iconographic symbols of all monotheist religions, from the cross to the start and crescent. Messages of peace are graffitied on the wall while Banksy’s signature is engraved in the concrete.

Paris: Banksy’s tribute to Bataclan’s victims is stolen

Sadly less than seven months after Banksy painted his tribute on the fire-exit door of the Bataclan theatre, where Islamist militants killed 90 people three years ago, the artwork has been stolen, the venue has said.
The work, one of a series of murals during Banksy’s invasion of the French capital last June, showed a veiled female figure in a mournful pose. ( Check our initial coverage about the artwork  here)
We are today filled with a deep sense of indignation. The work of Banksy, a symbol of contemplation belonging to all – residents, Parisians and citizens of the world – has been taken from us,” the Bataclan said in a Twitter post. A police investigation continues.

Stay tuned for further updates