I used to think so, but now I realise that was just me projecting what I wanted onto the scene. End of the day, they're artists like any other, and let's not forget, most took to the streets out of necessity not choice. There simply wasn't any place to show their work.

Banksy's gesture is so appreciated by the community. The man rocks.

lol. i liked the "true story" bit. I skimmed the rest

I like that.

Me too - again, not something I have seen beofre - brilliant!

Great post Lee. Some museums and/or curators may feel a duty to exhibit culture, whether that be from past civilizations/ages or today's. I think this is an important function of some museums, specifically where art is concerned. How better to show our zeitgeist, than to show different elements of our artistic culture? Those who see all forms of urban culture as subversive by definition need to wake up and smell the coffee, urban culture has always influenced mainstream trends and if you can't stomach that progression where its art is concerned, it may be time to find some other new interests which are still seen as antisocial and not embraced by the masses. How many artists have been mentioned by all the world's major media outlets more than Banksy in the past decade? What may have started life as one thing has grown/developed/evolved into something else. It may agree or disagree with any individual, but it is what it is.

IMO this is an important and positive occurrence as it gives street artists a great deal more credit, recognition and license than ever before. Some may find this distasteful as perhaps they weren't seeking it and possibly reveled in their outlaw status, particularly in countries like the UK or USA, but in other places where artists previously had no access to various outlets for their work and used the streets as their canvass, not to rebel or vandalize but simply as an opportunity to express themselves, I'm sure they're delighted to be accepted/promoted as artists and to be able to earn a living from what they love doing.

It's shows like this which will cement the importance of street art in history IMO and quite rightly so. Banksy and all the other street artists out there have just as much right to be treasured, appreciated, remembered as the rest do, perhaps more so even. After all wasn't it them who were out there doing their thing even before they were getting rewarded for it? Isn't that the purest essence of self-expression? I think Banksy's legacy is exactly this, that he may have been instrumental in helping to change how not only elite art collectors, but the world as a whole views art in future generations. I doubt there are too many living artists more deserving of being exhibited in museums (not that I'm an art expert, cause I'm not).

Quite an apt picture for the discussion eh Warmgun