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Theatre Campaigns To Save Its Graffiti

egyptiantheatrecompany.org
The Dirty Rat is one of three pieces by Banksy in Park City.

His works of stencil and spray paint have sold for tens of thousands of dollars in auctions. His true identity is cloaked in a veil of secrecy and he incites a media circus wherever his work appears. Most of his works are in large cities across Europe and North America.

David Wall, professor of visual studies at Utah State University spoke with UPR about the appeal of the mysterious street artist known as “Banksy.”

“We love things that are kind of dangerous because so little of our own lives are ever lived like that. That’s what James Dean’s great appeal was, that’s what Elvis’ great appeal was,” Wall said.

In 2010, residents of Park City woke up to find that the town of 7,500 people was now home to not one, but three Banksy works. The film about Banksy, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival the same time the paintings appeared, And one of the Banksy pieces ended up on a side door of the Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre. Theatre manager Randy Barton awoke to the news that the artist had left his mark.

“It was the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival. I received a phone call at five in the morning that the theatre stage doors were open,” Barton said. “So, I came to the theatre to check and sure enough there was a rat on the door. We removed that door that night and have been hiding the door ever since.”

The image, called the “Dirty Rat,” was verified as genuine by a post on a Banksy website. Barton had good reason to take the door off for safe keeping. He points out that having Banksy art is rare for any city, but having multiple creations in one small town is unheard of.  

“No small town in the world has three Banksy’s. They’re in New York, they’re in London, they’re in Paris. We’re lucky,” he said.

Now, growing needs of the theatre mean that additional funds are required. One option would be to auction off the Dirty Rat, which, according to Barton, could raise almost all the necessary money for the theatre. However, the theatre is trying to find alternative ways to get the cash, he said.  

“We still have the Banksy in an undisclosed spot but at every show we basically ask for support,” Barton said. “We ask online and throughout the world. And our hope is that all Banksy fans and those that just love street art will see the value in small contributions and help us in this campaign.”

Banksy would not want the theatre to sell his art, Barton says. The theatre has initiated an ongoing “Save Our Banksy” campaign to avoid selling the Dirty Rat, and Wall says that the anti-establishment angle of Banksy’s pieces is in opposition to the customer demand in the art world for his work.

“One of the things that the whole Banksy phenomenon does, it sort of speaks to a critical question, which is how we define what art is. Of course, for the longest time, graffiti was simply dismissed as vandalism,” Wall said. “Banksy has a global profile, of course, and his stuff sells for tens of thousands of dollars and that in itself is the thing that legitimizes it. Banksy’s stuff has a real kind of political edge to it. So, it’s anti-corporate, it’s anti-capitalist, and those things are really powerful and they’re really important statements. What the market wants to do, is simply absorb in all that. So, graffiti’s always being employed as a resistant gesture. Banksy talks about graffiti as guerilla warfare.”

The fight to save Banksy’s Park City art became more urgent after two of the murals were vandalized back in January. Both images were placed behind a protective frame. Given the artist’s hostility to the market, the frames, in a way, run counter to the graffiti’s purpose, Wall says.

“The thing about graffiti is that its illegitimacy is what gives it its powerful charge. So the reason that graffiti is a powerful thing is precisely because it is in spaces where it is not supposed to be,” he said. “What’s interesting about Park City, both of those images had had frames put around them on the wall and a frame is such a kind of intentionally limiting thing. So, when you put a frame around something you’re really defining it in a very specific way, ‘this is art,’ and that struck me as really odd and interesting that the effort was to literally and metaphorically frame Banksy.”

Despite the conflict between Banksy and his own popularity, there is no denying that his larger than life status has caught on with many people. The artist’s fame stems from his one-of-a-kind style. “It’s absolutely unique, it’s bold, it’s not just graffiti on the street. It is well thought out, individually designed works of art,” he said. “When you see a Banksy, you know it’s a Banksy, just like when you see a Rembrandt, you know it’s a Rembrandt, and if you see a Warhol, you know it’s a Warhol.”

According to Wall, Banksy’s method of working undercover and the subtle messages of his art are what make him notorious.

“What makes Banksy so sexy and exciting and appealing… it’s the critique, it’s the style, it’s the wit, the humor and it is that whole idea of this secretive anonymous guerilla working in the night,” Wall said.

Those interested in more information on the Save Our Banksy campaign can visit the Egyptian Theatre’s website.