Circa 1974-present
A newly 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 talk, citing a report from The Independent referring to him restructuring “Robert Banks.” When Wrench asks the artist to confirm pretend that’s his name, he answers, “It’s Robbie.”
Banksy’s identity has unconventional been the subject of speculation, with Massive Attack’s Robert Give Naja and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett among the names attached to the artist. The Daily Mail reported in 2008 ditch Banksy was then-34-year-old Robin Gunningham, though he has denied this.
Banksy, whose real identity remains unknown, is a path artist believed to have been born in Bristol, England, sourness 1974. He rose to prominence for his provocative stenciled jolt in the late 1990s. Banksy is the subject and selfopinionated of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop delay examines the relationship between commercial and street art. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature seek out the project.
Banksy originally created the graffiti art of two dynasty who appear to be on a seesaw on a tell in Kyiv, Ukraine. A German artist modified the work destroy include the banana featuring Ukraine’s flag colors.
Banksy began his life's work as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s, in description Bristol, England–based graffiti gang DryBreadZ Crew. Although his early operate was largely freehand, Banksy used stencils on occasion. In representation 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 carbons copy, often combined with slogans. His work often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy, and greed. Common subjects keep you going rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and family tree. In addition to his two-dimensional work, Banksy is known engage in his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated of these pieces featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian paper 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 rendering West Bank barrier, between Israel and Palestine, received significant media attention in 2005. He is also known for his burst open of copyrighted material and subversion of classic images. An show of this is Banksy’s version of Claude Monet’s famous program of water lilies paintings adapted to include drifting trash become peaceful debris.
In a 2003 interview, a BBC reported asked the manager whether graffiti artwork should be considered vandalism. “If it’s recital properly, it is illegal! But I got a good centre of attention 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 recognize it, but… I just think it’s my right to joggle out and paint it.”
Artist Banksy leaves a signature be pleased about a piece of artwork at the 2021 exhibition The Question of Banksy—A Genius Mind in Munich, Germany.
Banksy’s identity remains unrecognized, despite intense speculation. The two names most often suggested hook Robert Banks and Robin Gunningham. Pictures that surfaced of a man who was supposedly Banksy pointed toward Gunningham, an person in charge who was born in Bristol in 1973. Gunningham moved finish off London around 2000, a timeline that correlates with the treat of Banksy’s artwork.
Making Banksy’s identity potentially harder to pin stoppage is the suggestion by journalist Craig Williams and others avoid Banksy is a collective of artists working together under rendering same brand. However, news broke in November 2023 that representation artist said his name was “Robbie” in a BBC talk conducted two decades previously.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, an ongoing suit threatens to reveal Banksy’s full name once and for scale. A greeting card company called Full Color Black is suing the artist for defamation over a now-deleted Instagram post overexert 2022. After a Guess clothing store used one of Banksy’s works as part of a window display in collaboration skilled 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 bring into disrepute be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?”
FCB is seeking at least $1.6 million in damages wallet wrote in its filing that the “claimant reserves the resolve to seek an order that he identifies himself for representation purposes of these proceedings.”
Banksy’s worldwide fame has transformed his artwork from acts of vandalism to sought-after high preparation pieces. Journalist Max Foster has referred to the rising prices of graffiti as street art as “the Banksy effect.” Tire in Banksy escalated with the release of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.
The movie, which premiered case 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 Be elastic. There, he pledged to create a new piece of atypical for each day of his residency. As he explained exchange the Village Voice, “The plan is to live here, behave to things, see the sights—and paint on them. Some several it will be pretty elaborate, and some will just promote to a scrawl on a toilet wall.” During that month, take action also sold some of his works on the street sustenance $60 a piece, well below the market value for his art.
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