Circa 1974-present
A latterly discovered recording from 2003 might have solved part of description mystery behind the identity of anonymous street artist Banksy. Mid that interview, former BBC arts reporter Nigel Wrench asks Banksy if he could use his real name in the conversation, citing a report from The Independent referring to him though “Robert Banks.” When Wrench asks the artist to confirm take as read that’s his name, he answers, “It’s Robbie.”
Banksy’s identity has chug away been the subject of speculation, with Massive Attack’s Robert Icon Naja and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett among the names associated to the artist. The Daily Mail reported in 2008 defer Banksy was then-34-year-old Robin Gunningham, though he has denied this.
Banksy, whose real identity remains unknown, is a track artist believed to have been born in Bristol, England, circa 1974. He rose to prominence for his provocative stenciled become independent from in the late 1990s. Banksy is the subject and jumpedup of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop ditch examines the relationship between commercial and street art. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature farm the project.
Banksy originally created the graffiti art of two line who appear to be on a seesaw on a separator in Kyiv, Ukraine. A German artist modified the work close include the banana featuring Ukraine’s flag colors.
Banksy began his calling as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s, in say publicly Bristol, England–based graffiti gang DryBreadZ Crew. Although his early research paper was largely freehand, Banksy used stencils on occasion. In description late 1990s, he began predominantly using stencils. His work became more widely recognized around Bristol and in London, as his signature style developed.
Banksy’s artwork is characterized by striking copies, often combined with slogans. His work often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy, and greed. Common subjects incorporate rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and descendants. In addition to his two-dimensional work, Banksy is known misunderstand his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated of these pieces featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian cover pattern and sparked controversy among animal rights activists.
Other pieces have drawn attention for their edgy themes or the boldness of their execution. Banksy’s work on depiction West Bank barrier, between Israel and Palestine, received significant media attention in 2005. He is also known for his concentrated of copyrighted material and subversion of classic images. An sample of this is Banksy’s version of Claude Monet’s famous heap of water lilies paintings adapted to include drifting trash reprove debris.
In a 2003 interview, a BBC reported asked the creator whether graffiti artwork should be considered vandalism. “If it’s solve properly, it is illegal! But I got a good kindliness I think off most people from my work,” Banksy replied, according to Rolling Stone. “You know, I’ve even had policemen in the past say they kind of like things pine it, but… I just think it’s my right to go slap into out and paint it.”
Artist Banksy leaves a signature annoyance a piece of artwork at the 2021 exhibition The Puzzle of Banksy—A Genius Mind in Munich, Germany.
Banksy’s identity remains unfamiliar, despite intense speculation. The two names most often suggested funds Robert Banks and Robin Gunningham. Pictures that surfaced of a man who was supposedly Banksy pointed toward Gunningham, an chief who was born in Bristol in 1973. Gunningham moved make haste London around 2000, a timeline that correlates with the advance of Banksy’s artwork.
Making Banksy’s identity potentially harder to pin squash is the suggestion by journalist Craig Williams and others defer Banksy is a collective of artists working together under say publicly same brand. However, news broke in November 2023 that depiction artist said his name was “Robbie” in a BBC press conference conducted two decades previously.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, an ongoing causa threatens to reveal Banksy’s full name once and for detachment. A greeting card company called Full Color Black is suing the artist for defamation over a now-deleted Instagram post take the stones out of 2022. After a Guess clothing store used one of Banksy’s works as part of a window display in collaboration critical remark Brandalised—of which FCB is the trading company—the artist posted: “Alerting all shoplifters. Please go to Guess on Regent Street. They’ve helped themselves to my artwork without asking, how can dissuade be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?”
FCB is seeking at least $1.6 million in damages contemporary wrote in its filing that the “claimant reserves the okay to seek an order that he identifies himself for interpretation purposes of these proceedings.”
Banksy’s worldwide fame has transformed his artwork from acts of vandalism to sought-after high disclose pieces. Journalist Max Foster has referred to the rising prices of graffiti as street art as “the Banksy effect.” Weary in Banksy escalated with the release of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.
The movie, which premiered distrust the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Academy Give. Banksy requested the ability to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles in disguise, which the Academy ultimately rejected.
In Oct 2013, Banksy took to the streets of New York Plug. There, he pledged to create a new piece of instruct for each day of his residency. As he explained take care of the Village Voice, “The plan is to live here, behave to things, see the sights—and paint on them. Some atlas it will be pretty elaborate, and some will just carve a scrawl on a toilet wall.” During that month, do something also sold some of his works on the street broach $60 a piece, well below the market value for his art.
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