The Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides of the World’s Most Infamous Street Artist

I Want Change - Urban Street Art Image

Banksy is probably the most popular, yet most mysterious, urban street artist in the world - and he works at incredible extremes. He has become an internationally known as a subversive graffiti artist - yet manages to maintain a secret identity. He is a counter-cultural prankster, but has art in major cosmopolitan galleries around the globe. Banksy’s work has sold to Hollywood celebrities for over a half-million dollars a piece, but much of his subvertising is freely (and illegally) drawn on public surfaces. He works against the mass media establishment, but has been featured in local, national, international news. He is on some level clearly a geek at heart but at the same time his art is always on the cutting edge. The following seven examples illustrate the fascinating range of Banksy’s life and works through his most controversial and compelling projects.

Banksy in the Streets: Banksy is a household name in the UK, perhaps best known for his compelling stencil graffiti, found throughout major cities on walls and billboards. He avoids the abstraction of traditional tags, instead creating (often photo-realistic) urban street art images that respond to a given context and contain some form of social commentary. Of course, these are all highly illegal, which is part of the reason Banksy shields his identity.

Banksy in Museums: Banksy has been an internationally notorious figure since covertly adding his own works onto the walls of major museums in both the UK and the US. He managed to sneak in and install a fake prehistoric cave painting into the British Museum. This piece went unnoticed for days, and was later added to the museum’s permanent collection! Banksy also slipped subversive and satirical painted works onto the walls of four major New York museums - two of these four pieces remain in place.

Banksy on the West Bank: Braving threats and even warning shots from Israeli security forces, Banksy managed to make a statement through his works on the West Bank barrier. Reactions were mixed to his contributions to the wall, but the coverage certainly raised global attention. This kind of work shows the development of Banksy from a local subversive to an artist with a global political agenda, reminiscent of the amazing political murals of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Banksy on Paris Hilton: Despite the gravity of some of his work, Banksy is no stranger to subverty pop culture icons. In one of his most famous stunts, Banksy replaced 500 copies of a Paris Hilton CD with his own remixes and cover art. Perhaps even more amazing: it was reported that no one who accidentally purchased Banksy’s version of the CD returned it. Banksy’s fame has grown as has taken on more attention-grabbing subjects, from international relations to pop icons.

Banksy for Sale: Works of the elusive Banksy have sold for over $500,000 a piece. Among his fans are Hollywood hotshots Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves and Christina Aguilera. One family in Bristol - Banksy’s home town - went so far as to list their house for sale as a mural with a building attached, to find buyers interested in preserving the art on the side of the structure.

Bansky gets Stolen: Unfortunately, with Banksy’s fame has come a price for curators and communities who have and enjoy his work. Popular pieces have both been stolen from museums and dissappeared from the urban landscape, only to be resold for profit. The former is to be expected, perhaps, but the latter is a real blow to communities that know and appreciate Banksy’s contribution to their neighborhood.

Banksy for Free: On Banksy’s website, images of his work are sold for free and he humorously encourages ‘buyers’ to print it out “on gloss paper using the company printer ink when everyone else is at lunch.” However, the works mentioned here and the pieces shown on his site are only a fraction of his contributions. To learn more, buy one of Banksy’s books - or better yet, take one from the library, replace the dust cover, keep the book and return something provocative in its place!

This video provides a great introduction to the mysteries surrounding Banksy. His work remains more controversial than the leave-no-trace types of urban street art, such as light graffiti, projection bombing or other unusually legal street art. Though his work is sometimes legal and sometimes not, he remains an anonymous trickster, evading identification by the public and the law much like the anonymous subvertisers and culture jammers of the street art world.

Most Commented Posts

Posted by Urbanist July 19th, 2007
Graffiti, Guerilla Action, Street Art, Subvertising, Urban, Urban Art, Urban Images
Comments: 52

Comments

Comment from Liam
Time: July 20, 2007, 5:38 am

Hey cool review. I remember seeing a Banksy piece on some wall in London..I nearly freaked out when I did :D

Comment from WebUrbanist
Time: July 20, 2007, 3:06 pm

He really is all over the place. Part of the most difficult thing in writing this ‘beginners’ or ’summary’ guide was picking and choosing between so many images - he is intelligent, creative and extremely prolific!

Comment from Liam
Time: July 20, 2007, 3:49 pm

Very creative indeed, sometimes I’m for shock art like Banksy..but then you get the likes of Tracy Emin & Damien Hirst (not in the same league) who grind the hell out of me because they rely on shock…

Comment from People in the Sun
Time: July 20, 2007, 7:21 pm

Incredible.

I did see the Paris Hilton video before, and I saw the West Bank wall art and also recently the top pictures but I never made the connection…

Comment from WebUrbanist
Time: July 20, 2007, 8:52 pm

Yes, some of his stuff is definitely about shock - though I think a lot of it is subtle. I like the fact that some of his work is quintessentially his and very identifiable, but some might belong to just any street artist. That’s part of why (as PeopleInTheSun noticed) not everyone connects the dots and realizes it is all his work!

Comment from Mark Knowles
Time: July 22, 2007, 5:05 am

Goodbye duck.

Comment from Bruno
Time: September 30, 2007, 12:24 pm

He obviousy has an enormous range of ideas. Especially his museum appearances are incredibly funny.

Comment from brb
Time: October 11, 2007, 2:37 am

helle

Comment from Russ @ bombay potatoes
Time: October 22, 2007, 1:57 am

Some of these things are amazing.

My favourite is a recent one I think (not shown). It’s a sniper on a roof with a boy about to “bang” a paper bag behind him.

Comment from E
Time: October 22, 2007, 2:10 am

The image at the very top is not a banksy. It was done by a college student at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.

Comment from askin
Time: October 22, 2007, 3:29 am

His real name is Robert Banks from Yate near bristol, there are photos of him working in Israel when he put up his pics on the wall,

the “what are you looking at ” image can be found near speakers corner at hyde park, london, head to the toilets youll see it

Comment from Timothy O’Reilly
Time: October 24, 2007, 12:13 am

Are you kidding, people over-identify artworks with Banksy, as if he’s the only stencil artist in London. Whenever anyone sees a stencil they immediately attribute it to him, many of the pieces attributed to him are actually done by other well-known (at least in the graffiti world) artists, which is why he’s considered so profound, all the good ones go to his name.

Comment from subversive
Time: October 31, 2007, 10:03 pm

I hated that hipster piece of shit with the hair-thing that was watiing in line.

Comment from graceonline
Time: November 12, 2007, 9:31 pm

I love this stuff. Thank you for introducing me to Banksy. Amazing artist. Hope I get to meet him someday.

Comment from kan job
Time: November 23, 2007, 12:55 pm

banksy 6 il migliore

Comment from Mark
Time: December 5, 2007, 8:36 pm

Would love to see him put up a HUGE

RON (Insert Face Here) PAUL

Comment from Russ, from America
Time: December 5, 2007, 11:27 pm

What Mark said!! ^^

We are aware that Ron Paul is currently recognized as ‘controversial’ in England as Banksy.
A Ron Paul work would make headlines ’round the world!!

Love them Brit’s!!

Comment from Anonymous
Time: December 6, 2007, 9:51 am

Excellent review. I thought this Banksy character was just someone in Iraq, but he’s a global artist.

I love how he blends Victorian art with graffiti, and includes a message on top of it.

Well worth the $500,000.

-Diana

Comment from Rich
Time: December 20, 2007, 11:20 am

I’ve been an admirer of Banksy’s work for about 3 years now. He’s the real deal. And yes, there are ‘other’ stencil artists in England, I’m sure…but none of them are BANKSY. I hope he reads this, and keeps on doing his thing. Eventually, someone’s gotta listen.

Comment from You know
Time: December 20, 2007, 2:07 pm

“Selling” “free” work is certainly a nice idea, especially from someone who sells his books, but telling people to take a book from a free library is just plain stupid. Why not try the same thing in, oh, I don’t know, a bookstore perhaps?

Comment from Anonymous
Time: December 20, 2007, 5:49 pm

Nice way to ignore Meek, clown.

Comment from subcorpus
Time: December 21, 2007, 12:35 am

wonder where he gets all those kewl ideas from …
amazing stuff … right ???

Comment from shirt
Time: December 22, 2007, 12:04 am

Banksy is my favorite of all modern artists. He’s about as authentic as it gets. I can hardly wait till he gets on some more of these annoying fake singer clones of Paris Hilton.

Comment from Chris Morrell
Time: December 23, 2007, 9:05 pm

Have to admit, the art listed above is damn interesting. I find the West Bank images to be hilarious, Banksy sure has a sense of humor all the while prompting observers to think about the situation.

Comment from emo
Time: December 24, 2007, 12:04 am

Banksy is really one great artist. All his works are very interesting.

Comment from Showna
Time: December 24, 2007, 1:14 am

This is what I’ve been waiting for.

Comment from Hyrum
Time: December 27, 2007, 9:03 am

I like the one with Paris Hilton.

Comment from chris
Time: December 28, 2007, 11:15 am

equally inspiring but less well known is moose’s work with reverse graffiti. instead of using paint he cleans a surface revealing the artwork. equally stimulating and completely legal.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3379017

Comment from Brandon Harshe
Time: December 30, 2007, 9:02 pm

That is some really cool art. I’ve never heard of Banksy, but I’ll definitely look up the name and art. Thanks!

Comment from Tess
Time: January 7, 2008, 4:01 pm

I live in Los Angeles and drive by a few Banksy’s every day. They’re obviously genuine and a few years old. He’s fantastic; I’ve written a number of papers on guerrilla graffiti art with him as the main attraction. Props, Banksy, and good job leaving your mark in West Hollywood. :]

Comment from Spammer
Time: February 2, 2008, 5:26 am

This guy is a genius, the West Bank images are class, very clever!

Comment from Simon Dance
Time: February 5, 2008, 9:31 am

Doesn’t matter how many times I see these piece… but it’s always refreshing.

Excellent stuff.

Comment from Emo
Time: February 6, 2008, 9:05 am

Really like the pictures in the 3rd set down! It’s all inspiring stuff though.

Comment from Orbit
Time: March 2, 2008, 10:38 pm

You encourage people to steal his book from public libraries?

Comment from baz
Time: April 24, 2008, 6:28 am

Small correction, the remixed on the Paris Hilton CD’s were by DJ Dangermouse, who collaborated with Banksy on the ‘project’.

Comment from boo
Time: April 24, 2008, 8:21 am

Bansky is armless, thats what makes him so talented…

Comment from roomtone
Time: April 24, 2008, 8:39 am

This is great!

I would have added to the Paris Hilton stunts some of his other stunts, though. Like the Guantanamo prisoner at Disneyland, or the giant Elephant painted like the wallpaper behind it in LA (much to PETA’s anger…) where he also had a Paris Hilton display filled with her CD’s and Giant spitting cockroaches.

Banksy’s the best….

Comment from Wise Man
Time: April 24, 2008, 10:03 pm

Mystery is Banksy’s middle name. Shuffling and sliding, being under the radar, occasionally offensive - BUT - his aim is to slap politics in the face. More power to his arm.

Comment from Urban Quiz
Time: April 30, 2008, 9:29 pm

Since his identity is completely private, how can you tell if it is truly his work or just an impersonators?