For those of you who haven't seen Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy is the stunningly cool, infamous British graffiti artist who's identity has yet to be revealed. He can turn an average concrete wall into a questioning piece of work, usually with a startling political statement. He's even traveled to Iraq and done his fair share of explicit wall-covering, mainly choosing to depict a little girl floating with a bundle of balloons. Then again, sometimes he doesn't use concrete walls and takes average things like portables or a telephone booth, chops it, and welds it back together like this (look closely)
When he does hold art shows, they're small but hugely influential. For his 2006 show in LA called "Barely Legal", he painted a live elephant completely red with face paint and gold print so it matched the wallpaper to indicate "the elephant in the room" like so.
Well, the Oscars are almost here and ETTGS is up for Best Documentary. What if he wins? Will he go onstage with a face mask like he always does and have someone else talk for him? Anyway, he's in town (!!!) and this is the latest work he's done here on the West coast HOURS ago (he's like a non crime fighting Batman)
Despite the defamation, how talented is this guy?! Very. Celebrities and other big names have paid heavily for a piece of work by the elusive artist, buying them straight off the walls at his art shows or somehow getting in contact with his agent and requesting he make them something. Exhibit A: Christina Aguilera bought an original that depicted Queen Victoria as a lesbian for about $30,000 (a car basically).
One of his most famous works is this one from Pulp Fiction with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in banana suits.
For more intricate pieces that need to be done quickly, Banksy designs his own stencils. Sometimes they take more than what the night will allow and must return the next day to complete a piece. In his book, Wall and Piece, he explains, "I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a mustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is key."
The unveiling of his identity has been ongoing since 2004. His named is believed to be Robin Banks/or Robin Gunningham (unconfirmed), born July 28, 1973. Journalist Simon Hattenstone from Gaurdian Unlimited is one of the very few people to interview him face-to-face. Simon describes him as "a cross of Jimmy Nail and British rapper Mike Skinner." "A 28 year old male showed up wearing jeans a T-shirt with a silver tooth, silver chain, and one silver earring. In the interview, Banksy revealed his parents think he is a painter and a decorator.
Spokesperson for the organization "Keep Britain Tidy", Diane Shakespeare, was quoted saying "We are concerned that Banky's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism." However, there have been instances where public cleaners have left the drawings alone due to the general public's liking of them. The Pulp Fiction piece has since been painted over and replaced with this (below) because a fellow grafitti artist and friend of Banksy's was fatally hit by a train.
Follow up: First guerilla picture of Banksy. Is this him? That sure looks like one of his doodles on the wall... But no mask?
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