Banksy b. 1975
Above all enigmatic, Banksy is one of the most controversial street artists in the world who has created a subculture unto himself. His politically charged works have left an indelible mark on cities across the globe, sparking alternative perspectives and inspiring a veritable artistic revolution. Despite over three decades on the international graffiti scene, Banksy's identity remains a well-guarded secret. Starting as an admirer of Parisian graffiti artist Blek Le Rat, Banksy honed his distinct style within the DryBreadZ Crew in Bristol, England before partnering with the notable artist Inkie. His graffiti career nearly met its end at the hands of the police, leading him to discover the efficiency of stenciling, which became his signature organizing conceit formally. Banksy's art often features multi-layered stencils combined with existing urban elements like street signs and fire hydrants, creating powerful, and often provocative, public installations with satirical undertones. Thematically, Banksy uses his art to communicate anti-war, anti-capitalist, or anti-establishment messages with subjects commonly consisting of children, the elderly, policemen, soldiers, apes, and, of course, rats.
By the early 2000s, Banksy had moved from Bristol to London, gaining notoriety both nationally and internationally. His artistic journey even took him to Palestine, where he left a lasting mark on the West Bank Wall with iconic images like Love is in the Air (2003). Simultaneously, his silkscreen prints and stencil paintings shattered records at various prestigious auction houses. Banksy's true identity remains a subject of much debate and conjecture, enhancing the intrigue around his art. While his persona is clouded in mystery, Banksy is generally assumed to have been born in the mid-1970s. Over the last two decades, a range of outlets and experts have tried to determine who Banksy really is. Among the most common claims are: Robin Gunningham from Bristol; Robert Del Naja from the trip hop group Massive Attack; Art Attack presenter Neil Buchanan; and Billy Gannon, a local councillor from Pembrokeshire in South Wales. The iconoclastic nature of Banksy's work and his longstanding anonymity have created what journalist Max Foster termed the "Banksy Effect," through which interest in street art has risen generally everywhere.
During the course of his clandestine career, Banksy has orchestrated thought-provoking spectacles, such as his New York residency, Better Out Than In (2013), where he sold original paintings in Central Park for $60. In 2015, he opened Dismaland, a fully functional, dystopian theme park in Somerset, England, and designed the Walled Off Hotel in 2017 in Bethlehem, both of which drew widespread attention. Banksy's complex relationship with tourism has led to both support and criticism. In a famous incident, Banksy's Girl with Balloon (2006) partially self-destructed at a Sotheby's auction in 2018 by virtue of a mechanical paper shredder that was concealed within an ornate frame. Attendees at the auction, and the art-following public, expressed a mixture of shock and amusement. This work was later renamed Love is in the Bin (2018) and sold at Sotheby's in 2021 for £18.6 million ($23.1 million). In 2017, Banksy donated a series of paintings titled Mediterranean Sea View to raise funds for a Bethlehem hospital, highlighting the European migrant crisis. His artwork Venice in Oil aimed to call attention to the negative impact of mass tourism on Venice at the 2019 Biennale. Banksy's painting Devolved Parliament (2009), depicting the British House of Commons overrun by apes, sold for £9.9 million ($12.3 million) at Sotheby's in 2019. A year later, his reinterpretation of Monet's water lilies, Show Me The Monet (2005), sold for £7.5 million ($9.3 million), emphasizing society's wasteful consumerism.
Over the years, Banksy's work has been featured in occasional exhibitions at assorted smaller or alternative galleries and museums. This is not by accident since Banksy uses the outside world as his primary staging ground. In 2010, Banksy directed a documentary entitled Exit Through the Gift Shop, which blends fact and fiction to highlight the exploits of Banksy, Thierry Guetta (a.k.a., Mr. Brainwash), Shepard Fairey, Invader, and other street artists. Perhaps owing to Banksy's lingering anonymity, his outsized fame, and the pervasive yet evanescent nature of his oeuvre, an independent organization, GTP Exhibitions, recently assumed the onus of curating a significant, but by no means comprehensive, traveling exhibition of Banksy works owned by private collectors in The Art of Banksy. All works have been certified by Pest Control, Banksy's official authenticator, despite the show not having been authorized by Banksy himself.
