Bristol: Bansky's city

This weekend I went south of the border, quite south actually, to Bristol. I had been told how beautiful the city is from the moment I was accepted at a conference there. For that reason, I decided to stay two more days after the weekend and I certainly did not regretted it: people who praised Bristol were quite fair to its charm.

And now it's time to reveal my ignorance: I had no idea who Bansky was before I went to his hometown. Besides, I always disliked graffiti and considered it an imposition on the public space. I know that Bansky is not a graffiti painter, stencil, I learned, but it still fits the concept for this purpose. I have to admit I changed my ideas on the matter. I'll show some examples of why with some photos I took.

This one, for example, is funny. One could even say kind of cute because of the teddy bear if it wasn't for the fact that the said bear is about to throw a Molotov cocktail at policemen. Still, I found it funny precisely because of this dichotomy: teddy bear and Molotov...

This other one is even funnier, especially when you know that it was painted in the wall of a sex health clinic. Unfortunately not everyone thought the same and the thing was vandalized. 

This other one shows another dichotomy: the girl who looks straight at you looks irreverent as if she is a hurry to grow up. However, the hearts and the fact that she is on a swing shows a certain childishness.

This last one was painted to celebrate HM's Diamond Jubilee. The fact that the (young) Queen has a Ziggy Stardust on her face shows to me that during her reign the UK changed a lot but the Monarchy stays almost the same, as bridge between past, present and future. And I like this idea...

Like the one of the lover outside the window, this one has also been vandalized. Now, as I wrote above, I changed my mind on mural paintings. Besides Bansky, Bristol is full of graffiti by other artists and many of them quite good. However, I do draw a line in this tagging thing. Signatures (tags) on walls are not art. They are closer to dogs pissing on many places do mark territory or just tell other dogs "I was here".