I generally don’t like art that preaches to me or tells me that I’m doing something wrong. There’s enough people in the world trying to force others to live or be like themselves, so I like my art to be art.

Banksy is one of the few artists that I don’t mind preaching to me as he’s such a clever artist. I wouldn’t hang (most of) his work on my walls at home as they’re too preachie (and too expensive), but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate his art/messages.

His latest work is a pet shop of freaky animatronic animal/food hybrids in New York. He questions our use and abuse of animals as pets and food.

The chicken nuggets pecking at a container of McDonalds sauce is just weird. The realistic chicken looking over them like a concerned parent just makes the scene even weirder.

Here’s a quote from Banksy on the Wooster Collective website.. “New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If its art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art”

Wooster Collective has a few more photos and video of the Banksy pet shop posted here.

Watch this video below of a leopard from Banksy’s “The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill” exhibition..

There’s more videos on YouTube for those that are interested in the Banksy freakshow. I wish I was close enough to go and see it.

Banksy has a website for the Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill exhibition online here. The pet store is located at 89 Seventh Avenue South, Greenwich Village, New York, USA. The pet shop is open from 10am till 12am daily until the 31st of October, 08.

The Gothamist, MyArtSpace and the NY Times all mention the Banksy NY exhibition too.
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