The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists…never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little. – Banksy

Slow and self-obsessed? Way harsh, Banksy. I’m not going to chime in on that part of your quote. However, I do often think about the possible art the super bright, creative, and ambitious people in the IMA’s Design Studio would be creating if they had unlimited time and money and weren’t grinding out ads for me about Free General Admission (shameful plug). Of course, that’s not to say that great art is always created from pure passion without hopes of compensation, but haven’t artists mainly paid the bills by creating art for other people? I mean, I’m no art historian but a lot of great art was commissioned in some way, right? And while I understand Banksy’s criticism, today I’m going to point out a few examples of what I think are artistic advertisements.

The advertisement above is a general one for HBO’s programming. I’ve seen a few films in my day and have even been known to make distinctions between “films” and “movies.” Had the “short film” not ended with an HBO message, I could have easily believed this was some student’s art film project. Maybe HBO even hired an art film maker to produce this ad. Perfect use of music. Perfect use of voice-over. A subtle story twist. Nice.

AAF Addy Award - Best of Show 2008

The advertisement above is for Downy Wrinkle Releaser. Pretty funny. A clever artistic fold turned something as unremarkable as “wrinkle releaser” into something memorable and humorous. I like it and could definitely see it hanging on the wall up in the contemporary galleries.

AFF Addy Award - Special Judges Award 2008

The advertisement above, again utilizing some humor, is for pizza. Again, pretty funny. A clever combination of objects with a message you don’t normally associate with pizza sauce. Very nice. If it were in a gallery upstairs underneath a vitrine I wouldn’t have ever known it was an ad.

Banksy may not believe it (although I’m pretty sure he’s not as cynical in person as he is in print), but I’m convinced that bright, creative, and ambitious people aren’t necessarily wasting their time creating ads. As the examples above hopefully go to show, there can be art in advertising. If you have examples of your own, let me have them in the comments.

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