Der Standard - 02.03.2020

ARTS&DESIGN

4 THENEWYORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY MONDAY,MARCH2, 2020

Banksy Controls HisMessage,Not HisLegacy

BySCOTTREYBURN

Thecontrastbetween the17th-cen-

tury oldmasterand21st-century

disruptercouldn’t have beenmore

extreme.

To theleft,Rembrandt’sintrospec-

tive “Self-PortraitWithaRedBeret.”

Totheright,behindaprotective

glassscreen, Banksy’s “Girl With

Balloon,”the painti ng that hadmade

globalheadlineswhenitself-de-

structedat an auction. Itsfrayed

canvas danglesbelowits elaborate

goldframe.

Retitl ed “LoveIsinthe Bin,”the

piece —whatmany regard as the

most spectacularofall Banksy

stunts—spentalmost ayearonloan

at theStaatsgalerie StuttgartinGer-

many,where it attractedabout dou-

blethe normalnumber of visitors.

Theexhibit freeze-framesthe

momentatthe end ofa2018art auc-

tion when,toloudgasps,apainting

that hadjust sold for$1.4million slid

througharemotelycontrolledshred-

dingmechanism,thenjammedhalf-

way. Sotheby’shad been “Banksy-

ed.” Expertsregardtheworkaseven

more valuable nowthatitcommemo-

ratesaBanksystunt designedtoex-

pose theart trade’sexcesses.

Fifteenyears ago, Banksy,ayoung

upstartstreetartistfromBristol,En-

gland, wassmugglinghis worksinto

museums as pranks.Now,theycan

be thefocus of theshow, with guided

toursand lectures.Banksy’sriseis

theresult of yearsofmeticulouscon-

trol ofhismessage, hismarketand,

mostimportantly, hismystique.Is

Banksy ahistoricallysignificant art-

ist? If he is, what willbe hislegacy?

He gothisstart in theearly 2000s,

when hewasacarefreetaggerspray

paintingimagesofrats, chimpan-

zees,rocket-launchingMonaLisas

andkissing policemenonthe streets

of Bristol andLondon.

SteveLazarides was theartist’s

agent, photographerandcollabo-

ratorinthose formative yearsand

went on to setupagalleryinLondon,

whichrepresentedBanksyfrom

2006 to 2008.Hesaidthe artist was

“a totalcontrol freak, down to every

last detail,”adding, “That’s what

makeshim so good.”

Banksy nowhas no galleryrepre-

sentinghim,but discreetmultimil-

lion-dollarsales of original works

to selectedprivatecollectors have

helped fundhis graffitistunts and

larger-scaleprojects, like “Dis-

maland,” apop-upamusementpark

in southern England.

In 2008,Banksyset up PestCon-

trol,anagencytoauthenticate works

andprevent fakesand site-specif-

ic street piecesfromappearing on

themarket. He uses nondisclosure

agreements andtrademark lawto

maintain hisanonymity.

Last year,FullColourBlack,aBrit-

ishgreetings card maker, beganle-

galactiontocancelatrademarkreg-

isteredtoprotect Banksy’s “Flower

Thrower,”showing amaskedrioter

abouttohurlafloralbouquet.

Banksy wasadvised by hislaw-

yers to market hisownmerchandise.

Theresult was“GrossDomestic

Product,”ashort-livedonline store

with22 tongue-in-cheekhomewares.

Theitems were available forview in

apop-upwindowdisplay in aSouth

London suburbinOctober that dis-

appeared twoweeks later.

Theartistonlycommunicates

with journaliststhroughapress

spokeswoman, Joanna Brooks, who

declined to answer questions for

thisarticle .Posts on hisInstagram

account(7.1millionfollo wers)are all

themoreimpactful.Anewpaintingis

suddenlyannounced andworldwide

mediacoverage duly follows.

Thecuratorand criticFrancesco

Bonami is notsurprised thereare

no Banksy worksatthe Tate Modern

in London orNewYork’sMuseumof

ModernArt.“Greatartists, Ibelieve,

inventalanguageand agrammar,”

he said.“Banksy didnot.”

Mike Snelle,a.k.a.Brendan Con-

nor oftheConnorBrothersartist

duo, said Banksy’s projects,like

“Dismaland”and“GrossDomestic

Product,”would definehis legacy.

“He’smorethanhappytoput his

money wherehis mouth is when it

comes tohisbeliefs,” Mr.Snelle said.

Thewebsite for“Dismaland” says

that afterithad been dismantled in

2015,allthematerialswere reusedto

buildsheltersfor homelessmigrants

near Calais,France.Banksysaid

proceedsfromthe online storewould

go towardthepurchase ofamigrant

rescueboat in theMediterranean.

John Zarobell, an associate pro-

fessor at theUniversity of SanFran-

cisco, said hesawBanksyas“acon-

ceptualist prankster,àlaDuchamp,

whosegestures maybemorelasting

thantheworkitself.”

Still, thenextbig questionis

whetherBanksy will make theleap

to rarefied museumslikethe Tate

Modern.

Even hecan’tcontrol that.

AGentrification Story,

In TheirOwn Voices

STEVELAZARIDES;BELOW,CHRISJRATCLIFFE/GETTYIMAGES

Banksy,

aboveleft,at

workwithan

assistantin

East London,

is askilled

manipulator

of themedia.

Hispop-

upstorein

aLondon

suburbthat

sold 22

housewares

asajoke.

AFaithful

Retelling

Of Austen

By ERICKGALINDO

LOSANGELES—Onacrispaf-

ternooninBoyleHeights, just weeks

beforetheFebruary 21 debutofthe

newbilingual Netflixseries“Gente-

fied,”the main castgatheredatSan-

ta Cecilia, arestau rant,and pas sed

around plates offood.

TheMexican actorJoaquín Cosío

smiled.The youngercastmembers

of “Gentefied,”who play hisgrand-

children,callhim by hischaracter’s

name,Pops,eveninreallife. This

daywas no exception.“This isthe

strength of ‘Gentefied,’” he said

in Spanish.“Each characterisso

well-defined that it feelslikeweare

actually afamilysometimes.”

Carlos Santos,who playsChris, a

grandson, agreed.“It’s that feeling

of that youwanttobelong,” he said.

“You want to be apartofsomething.”

That spiritofbelongingwas one

thecreators, MarvinLemus and

Linda YvetteChávez, hadworked

hard to cultivatefor“Gentefied,”a

comedy that makesgentrification a

centraltheme.Atits core,gentrifica-

tion is about whatit meanstobelong.

Cangentrification be funny?

Thechallenge,Ms. Chávez said,

wastodeterminehowtocreate

somethingthatshows thehumani-

ty of thecharacters, butalsopushes

viewerstoask,“‘How thehellamI

impactingthings with gentrifica-

tion?’”

Fewshowsdepictthe Hispanic

experienceinthe United Statesfrom

aHispanicperspective. In “Gente-

fied,”afamilyowned taco shop faces

arentincreasethatmay shutter the

businessandbreak apart thefamily.

Meanwhile, thefamilyitselfisbeing

pulled in differentdirectionsbyits

members’ needsand ambitions.

It’s atensioncommon to immi-

grantclans,includingthose of the

creators,bothchildren ofLatin

American immigrants.Italsocom-

plicatesthepicture ofgentrifica-

tion:The show’stitle —aplayonthe

Englishword“gentrifi ed”and the

Spanishword“gente,”for people —

refers to wheneducatedand affluent

Hispanicsreturntotheir oldneigh-

borhoodsand wind up negatively af-

fectingresidents.

Pitched in 2015 as aseriesofweb

shorts,the showdrewattention from

theEmmy-winningactressAmerica

Ferrera, whosignedonasanexec-

utiveproducer. “WhenIdig deeper

into thegentrification asametaphor,

it feelssopersonaltomyexperience

growingup,”she said.“That kind of

pushandpullbetween beingrooted

inhistoryand ancestryandthatmis-

sionto progress:It’savery compli-

catedconversation.”

Theshorts debutedatSundancein

2017,around whichtime, Mr.Lemus

said,theyreceived sixofferstopro-

duceanetworkvers ion. They went

with Netflixbecause “wewantedev-

eryone to watchit,” he said.

Ms.Ferrera,who directedtwoep-

isodes andwas born in LosAngeles

to Honduranimmigrants,saidshe

was“morethan certainthere are

millionsofpeople like me whowould

love to seethe worldthatMarvinand

Linda created.”

Yetsomeresidents of the

mostlyHispanicneighbor-

hoodwheretheseriesis

setandwas filmed, Boyle

Heights, have accusedthe

producers of trying to profit

fromtheirplight. Activists

arewagingtheir owncam-

paignagainst gentrifi cation there.

“Aswestarted to learnmoreabout

thebiggerstruggles inBoyleHeights

andthe communitymemberswho

fightsopassionately for it,” Ms.

Chávezsaid, “westarted to realize:

‘OK,howare we contributing or com-

plicatingthisissue?’”

In response,Mr. Lemusand Ms.

Chávez metwith communityleaders

andrecruitedresidents as actors.

Thepairsaidtheybelieved it was

good forHispaniccreators to tell

Hispanic stories.

“Everyshoworevery filmthat’s

beendoneabout us forthelongest

timewereonlytoldthrough this

poverty-porn mentality,”Mr. Lemus

said.“It’s alwayslike,we’re riding

downadusty roadin theback of a

truck.And I’mlike, we’reAmeri-

can. Wewanted to make something

American.”

By ANNALESZKIEWICZ
LONDON—Whenwefirst
seehim,Mr. Knightleyisnaked.
Later,EmmaWoodhouse warms
her exposedbacksidebyafire. In
thecouple’sclimactic romantic
scene,blood gushes fromEm-
ma’s nose.
In moments likethese,the new
film adaptation ofJane Austen’s
“Emma,”which openedinBritish
theatersonFebruary21, seems
likeabolddeparturefromits
restrainedsource. Butthisnew
version of Austen’s work is, in
fact, aratherfaithfuladaptation.
With ascreenplaybythe nov-
elistEleanor Catton,thisisthe
featurefilmdebut forAutumn
de Wilde. Thesoundtrackis by
IsobelWaller-Bridge, whoalso
wroteforher sisterPhoebe’s
show“Fleabag.”
Recent period literary adapta-
tionslikeGreta Gerwig’s “Little
Women”and Armando Iannuc-
ci’s “The Personal History of Da-
vidCopperfield” have refreshed
theirsourcematerialbyplaying
with structure andcastinga
modern eyeoverthe social con-
straints.The charactersspeakin
waysthat seem naturaltoday.
This “Emma” unfolds chrono-
logically.Muchofthe dialogueis
lifted straightfromthe book,and
theperi od mannersremain.
Injectingamodernspirit
“wasn’tthe first consideration,
actually,” Ms.Cattonsaid.
“WhenIread‘Emma’, Ifind
it endlesslyrelatable,” shesaid,
addingthatacontemporary re-
appraisalfeltunnecessary.
Ms.deWilde agreed:“Agreat
story’sagreat story.”
Adaptingaworkaswell-
knownas“Emma” hasits own
challenges.Duringthe wave of
Austen adaptations in themid-
1990s, therewere nofewer than
three feature-lengthtakesonthe
novel. When atelevision version
airedinBritainin 2009,acritic
wonderedwhether “weneedan-
other ‘Emma’ at all.”
Ms.Cattoninsistedthatthere
hasbeenno“iconic period adap-
tati on”ofthe novel. Themovie’s
sense ofhumorand Ms.deWil-
de’s “heightenedstyle andab-
surdistaesthetic”set this“Em-
ma”apart,she added.
It’s truethat this stylized
“Emma” looksdifferentfromits
predecessors,with sumptuous
pastels,burstsofbrightcolor,
andcenter-framed shots, remi-
niscentofSofia Coppola’s“Marie
Antoinette”orWes Anderson’s
“The Grand BudapestHotel.”
Theactress Anya Taylor-Joy
playsupEmma’sobjectionable
qualitie s. HerEmmaisquietly
scheming. Sheisavain, ma-
nipulativesnob.This Emma is
allowedtobe alittlenastier,at
atimewhenunlikable,self-ab-
sorbed,privilegedwomenare
beingcelebratedonscreen.
“There wouldbeno‘Fleabag’
without‘Emma’!” Ms.Catton
said.“It’s astory about someone
realizinghow self-centered they
are,”which feltas urgentin 2020
“asitwas inanyage of history.”
Then there’s thenudity, and
thenosebleed.
“Itwas importanttomethat
Emma seemsalmostinhumanat
thebeginning, andthenbecomes
human,”Ms. de Wildesaid. “We
were also humanin1814.”

KEVINESTRADA/NETFLIX

FOCUSFEATURES
AnyaTaylor-Joy plays
Emmaasavainsnob.

“Gentefied”isabilingual

comedyseriesonNetflix.

AmericaFerrara,farleft,

withanactress.