While his face remains anonymous, his art is recognized worldwide. Banksy is a street artist whose art ranges from stencil graffiti on urban walls to conceptual sculpture and even film. His film, Exit Through the Gift Shop was nominated for an Academy Award, specifically Best Documentary in 2011.
Impressively, Banksy found himself next to Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga in 2010 when Time magazine selected him to its list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010. Of course, being an anonymous artist, the picture he selected, next to the other celebrities, was of him wearing a paper bag over his head.
To many, the thought of a grown man wearing a paper bag over his head spray-painting graffiti on walls seems appalling. Others who know that the same man’s art is auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars are proud to support his work. However, Banksy is mostly known not as just another wall tagger, but as an inspirational social and political artist, crossing boundaries to prove their irony.
Having left his mark in over 8 countries in Europe, just under 10 states in North America, and across the globe from Australia to Africa, The Middle-East and more, Banksy continues to travel and spread his message through art.
A full gallery of his work can be found here.
Sources: http://banksystreetart.tumblr.com/locations
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-story-behind-banksy-4310304/?no-ist
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1984945,00.html
Very interesting article, I am very familiar with the picture of the girl and the heart balloon, but had no idea it was created by this artist who was so famous. I also find it compelling that he likes to remain so anonymous, his work is so popular but does not really claim it! Great read.
So glad I now know who’s behind that first picture of the girl with the balloon. I have seen it floating around the internet before but I didn’t know that he also made it in Time. Very cool!
I remember when we watched Exit Through The Gift Shop in one of my art classes because he is quickly becoming an influential artist because of the social issues that he tags about. He creates some really ridiculous pieces of art that make you stop and think about it. Thanks for writing this and providing places to look at other websites!
Banksy has been an inspiration for me ever since I followed his Twitter account about a year ago. It is great how someone who keeps an anonymous identity can reach out to such a wide audience.
This is a very interesting article! I’ve had a friend tell me about Banksy before and shown me some of his work but I had no idea that he has such an influence around the world! The first photo, the girl with the balloon, is one of my favorites of his works.
Informative article, I’ve seen the picture of the girl with the balloon before but didn’t know the history.
Love Banksy. Such an anomaly in todays society of wanting attention for the things you do.
So happy to see someone portray artwork from a street standpoint. I feel like often we lose sight of what is artistic based on how the art is marketed towards others. Despite being an older article, I believe this is very well-written.