A new piece of street art has cropped up in a doorway on my way to work. Here in Bristol, home of Banksy, we have a lot of very wonderful street art, most of it banksyesque, whether it be by himself or something of an homage.
I noticed one which got the cogs whirring earlier than they would normally. It featured the Queen wearing a tiara and a grey hoodie with a Banksy image on it. The original image is above, and I think in itself that it conjures up all sorts of questions. I read it as someone who is perceived as a hooligan and a danger to society fighting back with beauty: an assertion of the creative power of a society which is not the art establishment. So a bit of a pat on his own back really!
So this new version has the ultimate authority figure, arguably therefore Britain itself, espousing and demonstrating its enthusiasm for street culture. That's my take anyway. I think street art holds up and interesting reflection of what's happening in British culture. The more the better, I think. The additional, more pragmatic, benefit is that walls adorned with graffiti art tend not to get tagged by eejits with spray cans.
