Banksy’s Street Protest and Warhol’s Pop Art Are Exhibited in Rome
A Banksy graffiti. X/ @pino_astore
January 27, 2025 Hour: 11:47 am
The Wegil’s exhibition creates a dialogue that highlights both the differences and similarities between them.
Two artists opposed by the messages conveyed in their art, yet connected by their iconic style that created a unique brand in the global imagination: this is how an exhibition in Rome compares the legacy of pop art pioneer Andy Warhol with the protest and street-art critique of the anonymous Banksy.
RELATED:
The Noguchi Museum Fires Workers for Wearing Palestinian Headscarves
The exhibition, titled Warhol Banksy, at Rome’s WeGil cultural space, features over 100 works by the two artists, sourced from private collections and galleries worldwide. By displaying them together, the exhibition creates a dialogue that highlights both the differences and similarities between the two.
Visitors can observe parallels and contrasts between Warhol’s (1928–1987) symbolic works, such as his portraits of Marilyn Monroe or Kate Moss and his iconic Campbell’s soup cans, and Banksy’s renowned Flower Thrower, a mural of a young man throwing a bouquet of flowers. The street artist originally painted the mural on the Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem, located in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
The inspiration for this exhibition stems from an original idea by the protest street artist—who remains anonymous—when he proposed the Banksy vs. Warhol exhibition in 2007, which was held in London, according to Pietro Folina, president of Metamorfosi, the producer of the current exhibition.
On that occasion, Banksy “expressed his disdain for Warhol’s pop art, but behind that expression was an acknowledgment of a certain type of identification between the two,” said Folina.
“The difference lies in the fact that Warhol worked during a time when consumerism and capitalism seemed headed toward marvelous destinations, whereas Banksy lives in an era of deep crisis,” Folina added. Banksy uses his works to critique consumerism and the social injustices of the capitalist system.
Giuseppe Stagnitta, curator of the Rome exhibition, explained that Banksy asserts that “everything is a circus managed by the market” and plays with “provocations.” Warhol, in contrast, “turned art into a consumer product and would have been an influencer today.”
Among the pieces that showcase the differences, yet also the connections between the two artists, is Queen Elizabeth II—portrayed by Warhol wearing her royal crown—compared to Banksy’s Monkey Queen, where the late British monarch is depicted as a monkey.
Another example of contrast is Warhol’s famous banana, which appeared on the 1967 cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico album, juxtaposed with Banksy’s Pulp Fiction. In this piece, the protagonists of the iconic film—John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson—are depicted holding bananas instead of guns against a black background.
However, as Stagnitta notes, while Warhol created imagery reflective of a booming and self-assured mid-20th-century American capitalism, Banksy, in the present day, “aims to dismantle the system, militarism, and consumer society.”
In Banksy’s works, “false myths are deconstructed,” and disenchanted characters emerge, the curator added. Yet, like Warhol, Banksy has also turned his art into a “brand” of its own, even though the communicative and media purposes of their works are diametrically opposed.
“They are artists from different eras, with opposing profiles and worldviews,” but “in a way, Banksy is a kind of illegitimate child of Warhol,” Folina argued. “Both come from the world of design and advertising and use a serial system for reproducing art: screen printing,” which connects them, he added.
Banksy rejects the market, but the paradox is that he then becomes a merchant of his works, which are highly valued at auctions, just like Warhol’s entire oeuvre. Banksy has even inspired art lovers to purchase pieces of walls where he painted his murals, such as Robot, Computer Boy, and Season’s Greetings, all three of which have been brought from the UK specifically for display in Rome.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE