“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”

• Banksy

Banksy is an artist, activist, and provocateur whose identity remains anonymous. His works of art bring bold and sometimes taboo topics to light for viewers to digest. Content within his work often addresses ideas of war, capitalism, greed, hypocrisy, and politics, sparking controversy in almost all of his pieces. His reoccurring subjects include rats, policemen, children, soldiers, the elderly, pop culture figures, and even the Royal Family stenciled onto publicly viewable surfaces, but as with any great artist, his style and motifs change along with the times. No theme goes untouched in his loaded works of art. Although the influence behind Banksy’s technique is debated, critics agree that his work with graffiti artist, 3D, and stencil adaptations from that of French artist, Blek le Rat, have played a major role in the evolution of his style. Banksy has been one of, if not the major key player in transforming counter-culture graffiti into a widely accepted art movement known as Street Art, and he continues to be an important part of the ever-changing definition of art.
The English artist we know as Banksy began pursuing art at the young age of 14 after being expelled from school and serving jail time for a petty crime. The seeds of what would become his prolific artistic career were sown in the early 1990’s when he participated in Bristol’s graffiti gang, DryBeadZ Crew. During his early graffiti days, he also worked alongside popular street artists 3D, Inkie, and Nick Walker. Steve Lazarides, a Bristol photographer with a background in street subculture and graffiti art, became Banksy’s agent and helped him begin selling his works. His first well-known mural The Mild Mild West went up in 1997 on a building on Stokes Croft road in Bristol, featuring a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police. Banksy moved from Bristol to London in 2000 where he would begin to develop his signature stenciling techniques.
His visually striking and culturally thought-provoking street art built up the core of his reputation, while his other artistic endeavors have equally contributed to his popularity. In 2005, Banksy published an autobiography titled Wall and Piece that tells a visual story of his early life and works while keeping his identity hidden. His 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary, featuring the story of a French immigrant, Thierry Guetta, in Los Angeles who filmed popular street artists at work like Banksy and Shepard Fairey but never did anything with the footage. Banksy used the footage for his film, which also depicts Guetta’s rise to fame as popular street artist, Mr. Brainwash. In August of 2015, Banksy debuted his genius exhibition, Dismaland, a dystopian playground modeled after Disneyland. The large-scale group show made headlines despite it being open for only five short weeks in Weston-super-Mare, England. In 2017, Banksy designed and opened a fully operating hotel called The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Palestine. Now an independent business, Banksy created the hotel as both a means of protest against increasing Israeli control over travel and as an inviting spot for visitors to engage in local history and art. In addition to his oeuvre of independent projects, Banksy has an extensive history of unique public exhibitions. His unrelenting desire to make a statement is evident in exhibits like Turf War, which was Banksy’s first major exhibition in the UK, featuring painted animals and vandalized classic oil paintings. The display sparked controversy as animal rights activists protested the event, although RSPCA deemed the conditions suitable. The Banksy vs. Bristol Museum show opened in May 2009 and featured over 100 works of animatronic and installation art, making it Banksy’s largest exhibition yet. Another significant public project was his completion of four murals on global warming to mark the end of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Underground graffiti artist, King Robb, accused Banksy of painting over one of his tags, igniting a feud and trend for other graffiti artists to alter many of Banksy’s works. In 2013, Banksy unveiled a month-long pop up shop in New York, titled Better Out Than In, including about 25 spray painted canvases on sale for as low as $60 each, two of which would later sell in a 2014 auction for $214,000. Banksy’s recent examples of artistic activism include the completion of 7 different murals in cities across Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
While Banksy’s artwork promotes various causes in itself by displaying political, economical, and environmental statements, he also uses his platform for philanthropy and activism. In 2017, the sale of his piece Civilian Drone Strike helped raise funds for the Campaign Against Arms Trade and the nonprofit organization, Reprieve. His Dream Boat sculpture featured in the Dismaland project was raffled off in 2018 in aid of NGO Help Refugees. Banksy has provided works to support various local causes including the sale of Mobile Lovers in 2014 to keep a youth club in Bristol open and the production of Banksy merchandise for homeless charities in Bristol in 2019. Since the mid-2000’s, Banksy has raised funds in support of Palestine by selling his works and creating The Walled Off Hotel as a means to increase tourism. He has also supported health care workers amongst the COVID-19 pandemic with his gifting of a painting titled Game Changer to a hospital as a tribute to the National Health Service, which was later sold for 14.4 million pounds to benefit NHS organizations and charities.
As a graffiti artist, Banksy has faced criticism against the originality and “artistry” of his work. While the majority of his work is illegally displayed on private and public property, many agree that it is simply vandalism rather than any valid form of art. Undoubtedly, such arguments add to the allure that surrounds the works of Banksy. The “Banksy effect” is profound, as many of his works continue to break record and predicted sales at auction. For each new city or location in which he works, his artwork is sure to bring in thousands of art fans to see it firsthand. All of the pieces he does in public are documented on his website for authenticity, and Banksy has decided to make limited edition prints as well as paintings to be sold as fine art. Banksy does not approve of sales of his public work, but does approve of his limited editions and paintings to be sold for the home.