"Bankski"?

P183... Heard of him? Probably not. But the Russian street artist is making himself known around Moscow with his 'his politically charged murals – and says he's doing it for a 'strong, educated and cultured homeland'' His murals have developed from his childhood, when he would write poems paying tribute to Viktor Tsoi, a Soviet musician on the Tsoi Wall, Moscow.  His work has more recently become popular after photographs have been viewed worldwide. His now much bolder and satirical art has been heavily compared to that of Banksy, coining him the nickname "Bankski". (I'm assuming we're all aware of who Banksy is? Well , if not, take a look here. The Bristol-born son of a photocopier technician has been a graffiti artist and creator of satirical street-art portraying political and social commentary since the late 1980s.) Despite the similarities in their art, P183 insists that imitation was, and isn't, his intention.

"I fully understand that we both have a common cause, but I never sought to emulate him or anyone else. I use the songs of people such as Yegor Letov and Konstantin Kinchev for inspiration – not public figures."

 Russia seems to approach P183's art with a much less admired and open view than the UK with his representations of modern-day Russia. In reference to the Russian election, he replies

 "I'm not going to talk about Putin, it's too much. In our country, there is a very heavy atmosphere. People are closed-minded, and money is the most important thing... The city government is categorically against street art, so any wall drawings are painted over. Graffiti with political meaning and social subtext are painted over especially fast," 

 It seems to me that art created by the likes of people such as Banksy and P183 is a form of creativity intended to physically illustrate the sub-texts and underlying themes of our societies, and the discourses we all buy into. Economics, politics, society and modern culture discourse is communicated through this.
P183 says that "To me, street art is a tool to send thoughts to people."


To read more about P183, visit here for The Guardian article, written by Jake Hanrahan. Here are just some of his recent murals (All care of The Guardian page!)... Enjoy.

Bea xo