In a country where public spaces have become private, and private bodies have become public, autonomy is warped. Banksy, the street artist from London whose paintings are now found across the world, is known for popularizing this sentiment with his satirical depictions of subjects articulated onto walls. These acts of graffiti have inspired millions of artists, motivating them to take back the world in their own right. Linda Radosinska is one of these artists.
Inspired by Banksy’s commentary on popular culture and his depiction of recognizable characters, Radosinska— a New Zealand native— seeks to recreate these paintings into real-life portraits. As Radosinska writes in the artist’s statement on her website, “The relationship between photography and reality has generated debate since the invention of the first cameras, and has become an increasingly important question for us all to consider given the advances in digital editing technology in recent years and the potential this has to alter our perception of ‘reality’.”
Entitled, “Exit Through the Thrift Shop,” (a play off of Banksy’s first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop) Radosinska’s photography project features images of Banksy’s “Kissing Coppers,” a photograph that showcases two men dressed in London-style police uniform, holding each other while kissing (originally a Banksy image painted onto a pub in Brighton), and two men dressed in military uniform bending down to paint a red peace-sign on the side of a wall, amongst others. As Banksy compels the public and artists alike to do, Linda Radosinska utilizes Banksy’s art as a jumping off point from which to create her own work, expanding and elaborating the tangled web of art, public space, and perspective.
Yours,
The Experience Concierge
(Photos from lindaradosinska.com)
