Banksy… Better at street art than David Hockney is at stained glass.

I used to be a street artist, after which I went to art school and learned… hmmm, not sure what to be fair. How to forgive academics who conspire to remove one from the course mostly. Ahhh Mark, your time will come. 

So I like Banksy, he’s a pretty serious artist, a fact hidden behind the pseudonymous and mildly comedic style. His messaging is usually spot on, and eloquently delivered. He thinks people who spend millions on art are pretty contemptible, I believe. A sentiment I share, I remember creating a text based painting called ‘I could’ve save a thousand lives but I bought this painting instead’. 

His recent ‘shred the artwork’ performance was well executed, and contrived, but that’s OK, there’s an element of theater in everything he does, he’s a performance artist, and I tip my hat to him. His work is overpriced shit but at least he totally knows it. 

Interestingly, David Hockney, a much celebrated British artist, and the most expensive living one, recently installed the worst bit of stained glass I’ve seen. Stained glass is extraordinary, when done well. And these days, it basically never is. I’ve never seen any contemporary stained glass that’s even remotely comparable to the masterpieces that litter Churches all over the country. Has the art been lost entirely? David Hockney can do no wrong now. Partly because he’s 81, and partly because there’s a sort of collective agreement to be uncritical of his work. But look, honestly, at it. It was his first stained glass. Please God, his last.

Trust me, in my opinion, this work is a disrespect to the Church, Westminster Abbey, The Queen, and Art. Watch the video above, and enjoy the weird auto reader bot. Fitting.