Pretty sure I’ve said this before, but there are few things more satisfying than a well-written, well-argued takedown of an overrated hack—particularly when said hack’s celebrity is entirely unearned. To wit: “Banksy is a talented graphic designer with a flair for self-promotion, no more or less. He is not an artist.”
That’s Alexander Adams over at The Critic, whose scathing indictment about the “cosy culture warrior and peddler of pedestrian homilies” is concerned not so much about the quality of Banksy’s oeuvre as it is in the answer to “how did such banality hoodwink so many people?”
It’s a good question.