ALL ARTISTS// Banksy
Banksy
Now world-famous, the street artist Banksy has always protected his anonymity. The only thing for sure is that he was born in 1974 in the Bristol area, where his first pieces of graffiti began appearing on walls in the 1980s. He quickly developed his own style, using stencils, a technique which was a fast way to create complex images. His work was marked by a caustic sense of humour, and themes were a running critique on modern life - state oppression, the commercialisation of the urban environment and the death of innocence. Alongside his street paintings, Banksy’s fame has spread though his various subversive artistic interventions, such as printing false Lady Diana banknotes, hanging his own painting in the Louvre (a Mona Lisa with a smiley face) and the Tate (adorned with “Police Line Do Not Cross” tape). He claims his hoax cave painting at the British Museum (a man pushing a supermarket trolley) went unnoticed for several days. In 2005 he went to the West Bank and painted several pieces on the militarised wall dividing the territory from Israel.
Banksy remains clandestine, subversive and anonymous. Meanwhile his work is not only hip, it’s extremely lucrative. In 2006, visitors to his exhibition ‘Barely Legal’ included actor Angelina Jolie, who spent £200,000 on three of his pieces. In 2008, ‘Keep It Spotless’, his re-working of a Damien Hirst spot painting, raised US$1.8 million at an AIDS charity auction.
His commercial success means he has come in for heavy criticism from some street artists, who accuse him of having sold out. His 2010 documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop was a humorous look at the commercialisation of art. However successful he may be, Banksy retains a political edge, and seems to enjoy playing with his insider/outsider status. His October 2010 title sequence for The Simpsons, broadcast on Fox TV, paints a typically bleak picture of corporate America’s oppressive workings. Enslaved pandas and shackled unicorns are the dead hopes and dreams of millions of exploited workers producing toxic Simpsons merch. In December 2010 he donated almost £80,000 (proceeds from sales of 175 of his prints) to the controversial activist art group Voina in Russia. Enigmatic and original, Banksy is a name to be reckoned with on the international art scene, and, when it comes to both fans and critics, will no doubt have the last laugh.
Banksy – title sequence for The Simpsons (October 2010)
Ravith Trinh/Jody Gillett
// ALSO
- Exit Through The Gift Shop - A Banksy Film
- Africa for Africa
- Highlife Champion
- Quantic and his Combo Barbaro album launch tour starts Friday 5 June at the ICA
- Uganda, Uganda: Visual Arts Focus
- São Paulo, Reverse graffiti
- Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
- Womex !
- Rio de Janeiro, Rio - The art of transformation
// LINKS
RELATED ARTISTS
>> Chris Morris
>> Steel Pulse
>> John Bailly
>> Donovan
>> Recycler
REPORTS
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