Banksy: Good or Bad? Choose your side, or don’t

I’ve been meaning to write on this subject for some time now. I must say that I’m very well aware that the words of an ordinary art student do not count much in the face of a Pulitzer winning critic and a well-known curator. But, screw it. Gonna speak my mind anyway. Recently, Banksy has been criticized for being a “bad artist” by New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz and curator Francesco Bonami. Among other things, the main claim of their criticism is the idea that Banksy doesn’t transform reality, but rather uses it in a banal way and exploits it. To give a little context, Bonami argues that Banksy is not an artist, and if seen as an artist, then he is only a bad one; saying that good art is one that transforms reality into another reality and the best example of this (for him) is the 19th-century painting “The Raft of Medusa” in which the artist took an event that happened, created a monumental canvas and composed it in his phantasy in a certain way- and all these are given as reasons that make it good art. Another example he provides for good art is Duchamp’s Fountain. Bonami argues that this work too transforms reality- the artist does not hang the urinal as they normally are but puts it on a pedestal, turns it upside down, signs it, and thus, presents a different reality. Well, the problem that I have with the examples he puts forward is basically how wacky they are. <a href="https://simay.medium.com/banksy-good-or-bad-choose-your-side-or-dont-7b860e4e636c">Website</a>