Banksy

Infobox Artist
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name = Banksy


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birthname = "Unknown"
birthdate = 1974
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nationality = British
field = Graffiti Art
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Banksy is a well-known pseudo-anonymouscite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6343197.stm |title=On the trail of artist Banksy|publisher=BBC News |date=2007-02-08 |accessdate=2007-02-08] [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html "Daily Mail unmasks Banksy] , July 2008] British graffiti artist. He is believed to be a native of Yate, South Gloucestershire, near Bristol and to have been born in 1974, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5346822.stm Real name: Robert Thomas Banks, 33 years old in 2007 (BBC)] ] but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and personal and biographical details. [Collins, Lauren, [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?printable=true "Banksy Was Here: the invisible man of graffiti art] , "The New Yorker", 14 May 2007] According to Tristan Manco, Banksy "was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier engineer, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s." [Tristan Manco, "Stencil Graffiti", London: Thames & Hudson, 2002, p.74] His artworks are often-satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti writing with a distinctive stencilling technique, is similar to Blek le Rat, who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris and members of the anarcho-punk band Crass who maintained a graffiti stencil campaign on the London Tube System in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His art has appeared in cities around the world. [ [http://weburbanist.com/2007/07/19/the-banksy-paradox-unofficial-guide-to-the-worlds-most-infamous-urban-guerilla-street-artist "The Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides to the World's Most Infamous Street Artist] , 19 July 2007] Banksy's work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.

Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti or mount exhibitions of screenprints in commercial galleries. [ [http://www.banksy.co.uk/cuttings/star.html Banksy's website Q&A] ] Art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder. [cite web|url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290|title=Banksy fans fail to bite at street art auction
publisher=www.meeja.com.au |date=2008-09-30 |accessdate=2008-09-30 ]

Banksy's "The Flower Chucker" is included the feature film The Age of Stupid to represent all modern art stored in an archive after the end of the world as we know it.

Career

Banksy started as a freehand graffiti artist 1992-1994 [Steve Wright: Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home. Bath 2007. Page 32] as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), often assisting writers Kato and Tes. [cite web |url = http://www.graffiti.org/dj/n-igma3/uk1.html |title = N-Igma fanzine showing examples of DBZ Graffiti tagged by Banksy, Kato and Tes |date = 1999-April] He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger Bristol underground scene. From the start he used stencils as elements of his freehand pieces, too [Steve Wright: Home Sweet Home. Bath 2007. Page 32] . In 1998 he arranged the enormous "Walls On Fire" graffiti jam along with fellow Bristol graffiti legend Inkie on the site of the future "@t Bristol" development. [cite web |url = http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/about/Press/03_graffiti.htm |title = at-Bristol Press Release |date = 1998-07-14] The weekend-long event drew artists from all over the UK and Europe, and his organisation of the event established his name within the European graffiti scene. By 2000 he had turned to the art of stencilling after realising how much less time it took to complete a "piece." He claims he changed to stencilling whilst he was hiding from the police under a train carriage, when he noticed the stencilled serial numbercite book |last=Banksy |title=Wall and Piece |publisher=Random House |origyear=2005 |url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |accessdate=2006-09-19] and employing this technique soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London.cite book |last=Banksy |title=Wall and Piece |publisher=Random House |origyear=2005 |url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |accessdate=2006-09-19]

Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. Subjects include animals such as monkeys and rats, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.

In late 2001, on a trip to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, he met up with the Gen-X pastellist, visual activist, and recluse James DeWeaver [http://www.jamesdeweaver.com] in Byron Bay, where he stenciled a parachuting rat with clothes pin on nose above a toilet at the Arts Factory Lodge. Unfortunately this stencil can no longer be located.He also makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and sculpture (the murdered phonebox), and was responsible for the cover art of Blur's 2003 album "Think Tank".

2002

On 19 July 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles show debuted at 33 1/3 Gallery, a small Silverlake venue owned by Frank Sosa. The show, entitled Existencilism, was curated by 33 1/3 Gallery, Malathion, Funk Lazy Promotions, and B+. [http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm]

2003

In 2003 in a show called "Turf War", held in a warehouse, Banksy painted on animals. Although the RSPCA declared the conditions suitable, an animal rights activist chained herself to the railings in protest. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm |title=Animals sprayed by graffiti artist |publisher=BBC News |date=2003-07-18 |accessdate=2006-09-19] He later moved on to producing subverted paintings; one example is Monet's "Water Lily Pond", adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a shopping trolley floating in its reflective waters; another is Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks", redrawn to show that the characters are looking at a British football hooligan, dressed only in his Union Flag underpants, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the cafe. These oil paintings were shown at a twelve day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005. [cite web |url = http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/banksy_show_tonight_in_london.html |title = Banksy Show Tonight in London |date = 2005-10-13 |accessdate = 2006-09-19]

2004

*In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of the Queen's head with Princess Diana's head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England."* [http://flickr.com/photos/21346961@N03/2073745999/ SEE PHOTO] Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at Notting Hill Carnival that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops. These notes were also given with invitations to a picturesonwalls.com Santas Ghetto exhibition. The individual notes have since been selling on eBay for about £200 each. A Limited run of 50 signed posters containing 10 uncut notes were also produced and sold by pictures on walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in October 2007 at Bonhams auction house in London for £24,000.

2006

*In 2006, Banksy held an exhibition called "Barely Legal", billed as a "three day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles, on the weekend of 16 September. The exhibition featured a live "elephant in a room", painted in a pink and gold floral wallpaper pattern. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm |title='Guerrilla artist' Banksy hits LA |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-09-14 |accessdate=2006-09-19]
*After Christina Aguilera bought an original of Queen Victoria as a lesbian and two prints for £25,000, [cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece|title=Aguilera invests £25,000 in Banksy |publisher=The Independent |date=2006-04-06 |accessdate=2006-10-20] on 19 October 2006 a set of Kate Moss paintings sold in Sotheby's London for £50,400, setting an auction record for Banksy's work. The six silk-screen prints, featuring the model painted in the style of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe pictures, sold for five times their estimated value. His stencil of a green Mona Lisa with real paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at the same auction. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069384.stm|title=Banksy works set auction record |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-10-20 |accessdate=2006-10-20]

2007

*On 7 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in London auctioned three Banksy works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for his "Bombing Middle England". Two of his other graffiti works, "Balloon Girl" and "Bomb Hugger", sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices. [ [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-02-07T184931Z_01_L07105355_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ARTS-BANKSY-AUCTION.xml&WTmodLoc=Entertainment-C1-Headline-6 Reuters] ] The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices. "Ballerina With Action Man Parts" reached £96,000; "Glory" sold for £72,000; "Untitled (2004)" sold for £33,600 - all prices being significantly above estimated values. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html Geneviève Roberts, "Sotheby's makes a killing from Banksy's guerrilla artworks," The Independent, 19 January 2007] ] To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit." [ [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins Lauren Collins, "Banksy Was Here, The invisible man of graffiti art," The New Yorker, 14 May 2007] ]

*In February 2007, the owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in Bristol decided to sell the house through an art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural which comes with a house attached. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm |title=Free house as part of mural sale |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-02-12 |accessdate=2007-02-12]

*In April 2007, Transport for London painted over Banksy's iconic image of a scene from Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", with Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta clutching bananas instead of guns. Although the image was very popular, Transport for London claimed that the "graffiti" created a general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm |title=Iconic Banksy image painted over |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-04-20 |accessdate=2007-04-20]

*On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work 'Space Girl & Bird' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000), around 20 times the estimate at Bonhams of London. [ [http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425 Reuters UK: Elusive artist Banksy sets record price] ] On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's Greatest living Briton. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award, and continued with his notoriously anonymous status.

*On 4 June 2007, it was reported that Banksy's "The Drinker" had been stolen. [cite web |title=Banksy Statue Stolen |url=http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html Stranger Magazine |accessdate=2007-06-04] [cite web | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1184233,00.html |accessdate=2008-06-15]

*In October 2007, most of his works offered for sale at Bonhams auction house in London sold for more than twice their reserve price. [http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0,,30100-1289548,00.html "Guerilla Artist," Sky News, 24 October 2007]

*Banksy made a tribute art piece over his famous "Pulp Fiction" piece. The tribute was for 19-year-old British graffiti artist OZONE, who was hit by an underground train in Barking, East London along with fellow artist WIZE [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/20/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation Esther Addley, "Blood on the tracks" The Guardian, 20 January 2007] ] , on 12 January 2007. The art piece was of an angel wearing a bullet-proof vest, holding a skull. He also wrote a note on his website, saying:

"The last time I hit this spot I painted a crap picture of two men in banana costumes waving hand guns. A few weeks later a writer called Ozone completely dogged it and then wrote 'If it's better next time I'll leave it' in the bottom corner."

"When we lost Ozone we lost a fearless graffiti writer and as it turns out a pretty perceptive art critic."

"Ozone - rest in peace."

*Banksy has published a "manifesto" on his website. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050119032828/http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html] The text of the manifesto is credited as the diary entry of one Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Willett Gonin, DSO, which is exhibited in the Imperial War Museum. It describes how a shipment of lipstick to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp immediately after its liberation at the end of World War II helped the internees regain their humanity. However, as of 18 January 2008, Banksy's Manifesto has been substituted with Graffiti Heroes #03 that describes Peter Chappell's graffiti quest of the 1970s that worked to free George Davis of his imprisonment. [ [http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/ Banksy : Manifesto ] ]

*A small number of Banksy's works can be seen in the movie "Children of Men", including a stenciled image of two policemen kissing and another stencil of a child looking down a shop.

*In the 2007 film "Shoot 'Em Up" starring Clive Owen, Banksy's tag can be seen on a dumpster in the film's credits.

* Banksy, who deals mostly with Lazarides Gallery in London, claims that the exhibition at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York (his first major exhibition in that city) is unauthorized. The show featured 62 of his paintings and prints. He also claimed that the showing of his work in Bethlehem was also unauthorized. [citation | title= Banksy Pans His First New York Show | publisher=ARTINFO | year=2007 | date= 2007-12-07 | url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26312/banksy-pans-his-first-new-york-show/ | accessdate=2008-04-16 ]

2008

* Over the weekend 3-5 May in London, Banksy hosted an exhibition called "The Cans Festival". It was situated on Leake Street, a road tunnel formerly used by Eurostar underneath London Waterloo station. Graffiti artists with stencils were invited to join in and paint their own artwork, as long as it didn't cover anyone else's. Artists included Blek le Rat, Broken Crow, C215, Dolk, J.Glover, Eine, Eelus, Hero and Tom Civil.

* In late August 2008, marking the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the associated levee failure disaster, Banksy produced a series of works in New Orleans, Louisiana (mostly on buildings derelict since the disaster).

* A stencil painting attributed to Banksy appeared at a vacant petrol station in the Ensley neighbourhood of Birmingham, Alabama on August 29 as Hurricane Gustav approached the New Orleans area. The painting depicting a hooded member of the Ku Klux Klan hanging from a noose was quickly covered with black spray paint and later removed altogether. Gray, Jeremy (September 3, 2008) "Famed artist may have left local mark." "Birmingham News"]

* The Wooster Collective announced that the mysterious "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill" in New York City that opened October 5, 2008 is Banksy's latest installation. The animatronic pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby chicken mcnuggets as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror. http://www.woostercollective.com/2008/10/the_village_pet_store_and_charchoal_gril.html]

Art pieces

In addition to his artwork, Banksy has claimed responsibility for a number of high profile art pieces, including the following:
* At London Zoo, he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in seven foot high letters. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/03/18/do1806.xml For the Gauguin of graffiti it was all about tagging. Now he's into six-figure price tags] . The Telegraph]
* At Bristol Zoo, he left the message 'I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring.' in the elephant enclosure. [Cite web | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/design/24arti.html | title = Need Talent to Exhibit in Museums? Not This Prankster | accessdate = 2008-06-12 | date = 2005-03-24 | publisher = New York Times | author = Randy Kennedy]
* In March 2005, he placed subverted artworks in the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. [cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html |title=A Wooster Exclusive: Banksy Hits New York's Most Famous Museums (All of them) |accessdate=2006-09-19 |date=2005-03-23]
* He put up a subverted painting in London's Tate Britain gallery.
* In May 2005 Banksy's version of a primitive cave painting depicting a human figure hunting wildlife whilst pushing a shopping trolley was hung in gallery 49 of the British Museum, London. Upon discovery, they added it to their permanent collection.cite journal |author=Jeff Howe |journal=Wired |issue=13.08 |url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html |title=Art Attack |dateyear=2005 |datemonth=08 |accessdate=2006-09-19]
* Banksy has sprayed "This is not a photo opportunity" on certain photograph spots.
* In August 2005, Banksy painted nine images on the Israeli West Bank barrier, including an image of a ladder going up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm |title=Art prankster sprays Israeli wall |publisher=BBC News |date=2005-08-05 |accessdate=2006-09-19] [cite news |author=Sam Jones |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1543171,00.html |title=Spray can prankster tackles Israel's security barrier |date=2005-08-05 |publisher=The Guardian |accessdate=2006-09-19]
* In April 2006, Banksy created a sculpture based on a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side, apparently bleeding, and placed it in a street in Soho, London. It was later removed by Westminster Council. BT released a press release, which said: "This is a stunning visual comment on BT's transformation from an old-fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications services provider." [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4887660.stm |title=Artist's cold call cuts off phone |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-04-07 |accessdate=2006-09-19]
* In June 2006, Banksy created an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall in central Bristol. The image sparked some controversy, with the Bristol City Council leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go.cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5103306.stm |title=Artist's saucy stencil for city |date=2006-06-21 |accessdate=2005-09-19] After an internet discussion in which 97% (all but 6 people) supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building.
* In August/September 2006, Banksy replaced up to 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut CD, "Paris", in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by Danger Mouse. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". Several copies of the CD were purchased by the public before stores were able to remove them, some going on to be sold for as much as £750 on online auction websites such as eBay. The cover art depicted Paris Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with a dog's head replacing her own, and one of her stepping out of a luxury car, edited to include a group of homeless people, which included the caption "90% of success is just showing up". [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm |title=Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-09-04 |accessdate=2006-09-19] [cite news |author=Claire Truscott |coauthors=Martin Hodgson |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece |title=Banksy targets Paris Hilton |publisher=The Independent on Sunday |date=2006-09-03 |accessdate=2006-09-19] [cite web |url=http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=10995 |title=Paris Prank Confirmed |date=2006-09-07 |accessdate=2006-09-19]
* In September 2006, Banksy dressed an inflatable doll in the manner of a Guantanamo Bay detainment camp prisoner (orange jumpsuit, black hood, and handcuffs) and then placed the figure within the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. [cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesn't_wan.html |title=BREAKING: The story Disneyland doesn't want you to know |date=2006-09-08 |accessdate=2006-09-19] [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm |title=Artist Banksy targets Disneyland |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-09-11 |accessdate=2006-09-19] More recently his work has appeared on Melrose. [cite web |url=http://www.theradreport.com/2006/11/24/uk-graffiti-artist-banksy-tags-melrose/ |title=The RAD Report: UK Graffiti Artist Banksy Tags Melrose|date=2006-11-24 |accessdate=2007-08-08]

Technique

Asked about his technique, Banksy said "I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key". [ [http://www.designiskinky.net/profiles/banksy.html Design is Kinky ] ]

Stencils are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photocopy nature of much of his work.

Identity

Banksy's real name is not Robert or Robin Banks as is commonly believed having been widely reported in the press as such. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5346822.stm Real name: Robert Banks, 32 years old in 2006 (BBC)] ] [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article80725.ece Graffiti with bells on - This Britain, UK - Independent.co.uk ] ] [ [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article2774359.ece Banksy, the celebrated graffiti artist, is caught in the act for first time - Times Online ] ] His year of birth has been given as 1974.

Simon Hattenstone from Guardian Unlimited is one of the very few people to have interviewed him face-to-face. Hattenstone describes him as "a cross of Jimmy Nail and British rapper Mike Skinner" and "a 28 year old male who showed up wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a silver tooth, silver chain, and one silver earring". [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,999712,00.html Simon Hattenstone, "Interview with Banksy," The Guardian, 17 July 2003] ]

The registrant of Banksy's website is Steve Lazarides, a photographer. Lazarides is Banksy's agent. Lazarides has a gallery on Greek Street in London's Soho called Laz Inc, where Banksy originals can be bought.

Banksy's parents think their son is a painter and decorator. [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,999712,00.html Simon Hattenstone, "Something to spray," The Guardian, 17 July 2003] ]

In May 2007, [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=3 an extensive article written by Lauren Collins of the New Yorker] re-opened the Banksy-identity controversy citing a 2004 photograph of the artist that was taken in Jamaica during the Two-Culture Clash project and later published in The Evening Standard in 2004.

In October 2007, a story on the BBC website featured a photo allegedly taken by a passer-by in Bethnal Green, London, purporting to show Banksy at work with an assistant, scaffolding and a truck. The story confirms that Tower Hamlets Council in London has decided to treat all Banksy works as vandalism and remove them. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7069870.stm BBC News Website - Artist Banksy 'captured in photo'] BBC News 30 October 2007]

In July 2008, it was claimed by "The Mail on Sunday" that Banksy's real name is Robin Gunningham. [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html Graffiti artist Banksy unmasked ... as a former public schoolboy from middle-class suburbia] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7504132.stm BBC News online Paper 'reveals Banksy's identity'] ] His agent has refused to confirm or deny these reports.

Banksy himself states, on his website "I am unable to comment on who may or may not be banksy, but anyone described as being 'good at drawing' doesn't sound like banksy to me." [ [http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html Banksy's own website] ]

Controversy

In 2004, Banksy walked into the Louvre in Paris and hung on a wall a picture he had painted resembling the Mona Lisa but with a yellow smiley face. Though the painting was hurriedly removed by the museum staff, it and its counterpart, temporarily on unknown display at the Tate Britain, were described by Banksy as 'shortcuts'. He is quoted as saying: "To actually [have to] go through the process of having a painting selected must be quite boring, It's a lot more fun to go and put your own one up." ["Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continants" by Nicholas Ganz pg. 139, published 2006 by Abrams.]

Peter Gibson, a spokesperson for Keep Britain Tidy, asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism, [ [http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html Brian Sewell Art Directory- BANKSY] ] and Diane Shakespeare, an official for the same organisation, was quoted as saying: "We are concerned that Banksy's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism". [ [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all The New Yorker- Banksy Was Here] ]

In June 2007 Banksy created a circle of plastic portable toilets, said to resemble Stonehenge at the Glastonbury Festival. As this was in the same field as the "sacred circle" which has always had a no plastic rule this was felt by many to be inappropriate and his installation was itself vandalized before the festival even opened.

Quotations

Bibliography

Banksy has self-published several books that contain photographs of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own writings:
* Banksy, "Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall" (2001).
* Banksy, "Existencilism" (2002).
* Banksy, "Cut it Out" (2004).
* Banksy, "Wall and Piece" (2005)

Random House published Banksy, "Wall and Piece" in 2005. It contains a combination of images from his three previous books, as well as some new material.

Two books authored by others on his work were published in 2006 & 2007:
*Martin Bull, "Banksy Locations and Tours: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London" (2006 - with new editions in 2007 and 2008).
*Steve Wright, "Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home" (2007)

References

External links

* [http://www.banksy.co.uk/ Banksy's website]
* [http://banksyforum.proboards82.com/ Banksy forum]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/ Banksy resource]
* Galleries of Banksy's work:
* [http://www.canvas-style-art.co.uk Catalog of Banksy artworks]
** [http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/ Photo pool]
** [http://www.itvlocal.com/yorkshire/news/?void=196435 Banksy mobile home graffiti video]
** [http://banksy.skyrock.com/ Banksy pictures]
** [http://www.flickr.com/photos/newfolder/sets/72157600086255636/ Banksy work in Liverpool, 2004]
** [http://www.ekosystem.org/tag/banksy ekosystem.org (2001-2008)]
** [http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/Banksy/banksy.htm Banksy on artofthestate]
** [http://wallkandy.net/ Banksy Photos & Discussion]
** [http://www.gimmiestreet.com/search.php?search=banksy&tag=true Vote on Banksy's work]
** [http://search.pbase.com/search?q=banksy&b=Search+Photos&c=sp pbase.com search]
** [http://web.archive.org/web/20050328040147/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jemarsh/banksy/ Jon Marsh]
*Locations of work
** [http://www.zeesource.net/maps/map.do?group=1571 A Zeemaps map of Banksy locations]
** [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955471222 Banksy locations and tours (2008 edition)]

Articles and media

* [http://www.neublack.com/art-design/banksy-cans-festival Banksy's Cans Festival London]
* [http://www.neublack.com/features/featured-artist-banksy Banksy: Barely Legal Los Angeles]
* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html Banksy Unmasked]
* [http://visitbristol.co.uk/site/guide-book/banksy-graffiti-artist Maps and details of Banksy's works in Bristol]
* [http://www.infectiousvideos.com/p/1699 Video report of Banksy in Palestine]
* [http://www.londonist.com/archives/2005/11/booksy.php Article on "Wall and Piece"]
* [http://www.kayotix.com/tmp/newsfeeds/01.11.05/banksy/ Video reportage of the 'Illusive Banksy']
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html Art Attack] from "Wired"
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,999712,00.html Simon Hattenstone interviews Banksy]
* [http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/12/PM200609127.html Radio story about Banksy from U.S. public radio program 'Marketplace']
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1874245,00.html Guardian article, 17 Sept 2006, about Banksy]
* [http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/videos/article/1157145899034?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController&cmp=BAC-untlp The London Paper video news clip, 1 March 2007, about Banksy exhibition in Knightsbridge]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6444501.stm BBC News article regarding Banksy mural being painted over in Bristol]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1511 Banksy Piece]
* [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?printable=true "Banksy Was Here: the invisible man of graffiti art"] , "The New Yorker", 14 May 2007
* [http://www.esquire.com/features/best-n-brightest-2005/ESQ1205BANKSY_198?printable=true "I Am Banksy"] , "Esquire", December 2005
* [http://www.complex.com/blogs/?p=3820 Complex Magazine : The New Yorker Helps Unveil Banksy: The Not-So-Invisible Man of Graffiti]
* [http://swindlemagazine.com/issue08/banksy/ SWINDLE Magazine interview with BANKSY]
* [http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0,,70141-1295355,00.html "Against the Wall: Banksy in the Holy Land," Sky News, 3 December 2007]
* [http://mag1.olivesoftware.com/ActiveMagazine/getBookEnc.asp?Path=U1RZTC8yMDA4LzA2LzAx&BookCollection=STYL_AM&ReaderStyle=QM4G&OnePageMode=1 "The Guerilla Street Artist Who Rages Against The Market Machine"] , "Style Century Magazine", June 2008
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7662797.stm "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill" photos] at BBC News.com. Collected 10 October 2008