Banksy, Much More Than Just a Graffiti Artist
Political Satire & Wit – Banksy's Grafitti and Other Art Reviewed
Aug 13, 2008
Not a lot is “known” about Banksy. This underground artist is responsible for some of the best pieces of graffiti to be seen on urban walls in Bristol, London, Sydney, Los Angeles and other cities. This is because Banksy has used other people’s property as his canvas and presumably risks prosecution if he “comes out”.
Banksy's Grafitti Genuine Works of Art
As a result many of his art works have been cleaned off surfaces and remain now only in the photographic record. However some of Banksy’s pieces have been proclaimed to be genuine works of art.
Maybe some of those who have cleaned up his graffiti works will come to regret this action as the price of his work soars on the art market. Bristol Council has allowed “Naked Man” which portrays a nude male dangling by one arm from a window sill, to be left in place “by popular demand”.
Banksy Biography
It is said that the pseudo-anonymous Banksy was born in 1974, son of a photocopier repair engineer . He trained to be a butcher, but apparently his artistic talent and his social awareness would not be stifled.
He started as a freehand graffiti artist in 1992 incorporating stencils as elements in his work. By 2000 he had begun to use stencilling as his main “modus operandi”, realising how much time it would save. Subsequently he has started to use more conventional media.
Art Work Prices Rising Steeply
Banksy is no mere graffitist, and his canvases have now started to fetch a handsome price at the auction houses. Sotheby’s auctioned three of his canvasses in 2007, selling at over £102,000 for his Bombing Middle England, whilst Balloon Girl and Bomb Hugger, sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively.
Subsequently his 'Space Girl & Bird' has made a record £288,000 (US$576,000 when it was auctioned at Bonhams in London April 2007.
Banksy, Artist with a Conscience
His works are witty and sardonic. They comment on the way we have polluted the land, on the way the poor are callously exploited and manipulated by big business, and the way people are used as pawns in the highly dangerous and life threatening games of the powerful.
Banksy the Author
If you’d like to learn more about this interesting character, Banksy has self published several books containing photographs of his graffiti, his paintings on canvas and exhibitions that he has staged over the years. He has including his own commentaries on these pieces, which will no doubt be a boon to future art historians:
- 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.
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