Banksy - Graffiti Artist

[lemeray]

I think he should have his own thread. I love his work.

Here is one of the first pictures of him apparantly. No one has ever seen or met him.



Latest work










splash

 

[adorefaith]

thanks for the pics lemeray..
the way you said "no one has ever seen or met him" sounded so funny to me..LOL..

no-one...ever??!!.........

i dont really like to post pictures of my face online..but i guess banksy is as good a reason as any!...
here's me kissing the maid in london..

 

[lemeray]

It does sound pretty funny and strange...

Here's an article about the first sighting of Banksy...

His fiercely guarded identity is as much a part of the mystique as his unconventional works of art.

But after years of eluding detection, graffiti artist Banksy appears to have finally been caught in the act.

Somewhat predictably, the photographer who seems to have uncovered the man behind the mask has captured him on the job.

Crouched by the side of the road, tools of the trade in hand, the artist - whose real name is believed to be Robert Banks - carefully extends the double yellow lines so they snake up a nearby wall and blossom into a flower.


In the act: Has Banksy finally been unmasked?


The finished work also features a bored looking council worker sitting by the side of his handiwork.

And, as with most of guerilla artist Banksy's unconventional masterpieces, there is also a political undertone.

The piece went up in Tower Hamlets, East London, where the local council has vowed to rid the borough of his graffiti.

The finished product: Another Banksy original

"Whilst some graffiti is considered to be art, we know that many of our residents think graffiti in areas where they live, such as local housing estates, is an eyesore," a council spokesman said.

Neighbouring borough Hackney has also adopted a similar zero tolerance policy and has threatened to hose away his daubings.

Banksy's extraordinary career as artist provocateur and general prankster has attracted increasingly high-profile fans including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who pay tens of thousands of pounds for his unconventional works.

A recent auction of ten pieces sold for more than £500,000 at Bonhams.

Subversive: Murals have spread across the country

But despite his fame, his agent claims to have never even met him.

Banksy's most infamous stunts have included releasing an inflatable Guantanamo prisoner doll in Disneyland and installing Banksyus Maximus, a rock showing a Stone Age man complete with shopping trolley, at the British Musuem.

It took eight days for staff to realise that the piece was not an official exhibit.

Controversy: But his work has inspired very mixed feelings


British Musuem employees were not the only ones to fall foul of Bansky's pranks. He also placed a dead rat in a glass box in the Natural History Musuem.

Once again, it was some time before staff became suspicious.

daily mail

 

[adorefaith]

thanks lem..

i love this..

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. 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.

wikipedia

 

[gius]

oh! i think i have seen his work on the Stencil Revolution website

it's nice
there's often a lot of twisted humour

i wonder if he is just using cardstock as a stencil? i guess he doesn't duplicate the same image at another location?

 

[adorefaith]

there's quite a good bio on wikipedia..

here's a little bit about his technique..

During an interview when asked about his techniques, 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".

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 due to the photorealistic nature of much of his work.

 

[adorefaith]

oh and i just thought- maybe we should add a 'title' beside his name in the thread title..
you know 'artist' or 'graffiti artist' or something...

 

[adorefaith]

supposedly this is him?...according to brain sewell.com..

 

[Katie123]

that's not banksy i don't think.

and yeah i love it that there are so many of this stuff in east london...i used to go past one everyday going to uni when one day it was painted over...i don't get why someone would do that, it increases the value of your property (this was in a private parking lot)

 

[benno]

The Yellow lines flower was painted with permission from the owners of the building it's on. I think it was Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. No one except the club can remove it.

In Brighton where I live there is Banksy's famous 'Kissing Policemen' on the wall of a pub. It got graffitied (deliciously ironic) and the local council decided to clean the graffiti off and now it is behind a sheet of Perspex.

 

[adorefaith]

wow...ironic indeed...

thanks for that tidbit benno...
amazing how they have 'protected' his 'graffiti'...

this guy makes people think and re-assess...i love it...

 

[Meg]

I really detest banksy. I understand the sort of faux subversiveness of his work but his ethic I just find absolutely atrocious. I read part of his book once and he talked about a seminal moment in his life where basically, as I remember it, he had tried to befriend some of the meaner kids at school or was hanging out with them at least and they literally kicked the sh*t out of this one other kid, so much so that an ambulence was called in. The bullies blamed on banksy who never felt vindicated (he never said whether he spoke up and said it wasn't him) and felt it was a gross error of justice that he had been blamed, but mentioned briefly that the kid who had been bullied is now mentally disabled. I'm sorry but you care more about getting blamed and meanwhile someone has to live the rest of their life with a disability? And you're talking about injustice? Please.

 

[seanutbutter]

^ I don't like him either. Especially that little stint of his at Disneyland last year. (Artist Banksy targets Disneyland. September 11, 2006.)

 

[Thriller]

Bansky challenges the norm and puts mirrors in front of insanity. Deff a legend and a hero to alot....he would probably be a great political leader.

 

[Grunged]

i agree, although i don't know about the whole "political leader" thing.
i like his artwork cuz it's different, i don't associate it with him as a person considering that i don't know much about him.

 

[FairyTears]

I absolutely love his work and especially the whole 'mysterious' artist thingy going on

 

[masquerade]

I love the Disneyland thing. Its brilliant and I am still trying to figure out how he even managed to do it. It must have taken a lot of work. Banksy is brilliant but there is a lot of hypocrisy there. We don't know who he is or what he does with his money, but the fact that he is challenging capitalism and then selling his work for millions of dollars comes of as phoney. Again, because we don't know anything about him we don't know if he is giving his money to charity or what.

I also read that he doesn't tag on private residences, just on businesses and public stuff, idk if that is true.

He definately seems to be the "it" artist right now. His stuff is very graphic and easily recognizable, he has a definate style and its playing really well right now. I think the mystery about him just makes it even more intense

 

[Meg]

maybe he is the 'it' artist in America right now but I don't think he is in Britain anymore (he is still hugely popular, i just don't think he's as hip as he was a year or two ago). I think as an artist, who he is a person is so closely tied to what he is trying to get across in his work, it's hard not to conflate the two. Additionally, as pointed above and by many others, he is a huge hypocrite railing against capitalism, injustice and government and then making more than is necessary off his 'art'

 

[Diamond Star]

"A wall painted on by mysterious British graffiti artist Banksy painted sold for 208,100 pounds (275,750 euros, 407,000 dollars) on Tuesday, according to the results of an eBay auction.
The painting depicts a classical-looking artist in mostly-grey garb putting the finishing touches on a red large painting of the real artist's name.
It appeared in September on the wall outside a production company's office in Portobello Road, famous for its antiques and curios in Notting Hill, west London.
The sale on the Internet auction site attracted 69 bids, and the buyer now faces the additional charge of moving the work of art and replacing the wall.
A representative for Banksy confirmed the authenticity of the painting, and added that the artist would not issue any comment on its sale.
Banksy, originally from Bristol, western England, has attracted a global following with his graffiti paintings on the walls of London buildings, and his work has been bought by actress Angelina Jolie and singer Christina Aguilera."

{uk.news.yahoo.com}

 

[auxt]

Scans from his Paris Hilton CD, containing music by Danger Mouse




sharl @ flickr

An original CD is currently offered at this rare record dealer

I'm sure you all have heard of this beautiful art/prank CD. This is a guaranteed Banksy original, obtained from somebody directly connected to the artist and this item. Full details and a guarantee of provenance will be given to the buyer. The numbered CDR included has a 40mn track by 'Danger Mouse' using classic Paris quotes and various cut-ups with an interlude of Bouzouki music, yes Bouzouki. Hear what this sounds like and have a look at the distribution/Manufacturing procedures of this CD on this cool little video. The White CD is Signed "Paris" with a love heart over the i. Included is the 10 page doctored booklet, same as this one.
Banksy's stunt featured in the national press and as a result most of the works were removed and destroyed at the time. This is a very rare Item. Serious Offers please.

Other work for sale at Bonhams

# Banksy 'Laugh Now', stencil spray paint on canvas - Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000

# Banksy, 'Kate Moss', screenprint - Estimate: £20,000-30,000

# Banksy, 'Di-Faced Tenners', screenprint - Estimate: £5,000-7,000
Whether it is by surreptitiously inserting his works in the world in the world's major museums, or replacing the Queen's head with Diana's on his infamous £10 notes, Banksy's guerrilla-tactic stunts know no bounds. His high profile admirers include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Jude Law, Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper.