Apes, Rats, children and police men, these are the most recurring characters of Britain’s anonymous artist and activist’s simple but striking stenciling graffiti.
Banksy,the mysterious street artist, gained an impressive notoriety all around the world starting from the late 90s. In fact, as most countercultures, his protest art combining satirical illustrations and poetic slogans rapidly attracted some people’s attention before becoming mainstream.
By adopting the stenciling method, his highly recognizable images are made faster which reduces his exposure to possible altercations with police officers with whom he maintains a bad relationship given the nature of his work. But that does not stop them from conveying his messages in a subversive way, instead, it allocates more value to his art, as he states:
“The Holy Grail is to spend less time making the picture than it takes people to look at them”
His multitude of pieces enable the artist to become a symbol of revolution against injustice, war and other social issues by denouncing the human right abuses that occur all around the world. From opening Dismaland, the dystopian theme park to designing the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, there is always a deep meaning lying behind his work that affects his public.
One of his main distinguishing characteristics is ridiculing the absurdity of modern life by criticizing consumerism’s important weight in today’s society. Which he emphasizes more when it comes to the artistic world. He refuses to turn his art into a commodity to not make it lose its real value and its substantial significance by stating that “Commercial success is a mark of failure for a graffiti artist”. One way of expressing his discontent towards his work being sold at tremendous prices was when a framed copy of his “Girl with a Balloon” piece self-destructed during an auction when it was about to be sold for 1.4 million dollars in front of a dazed audience. He believes that if something is made on a wall, it has to remain where it is supposed to stay and encourages to only buy art when its creation’s purpose is to be sold.
“I don’t know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public, they forget that invisibility is a superpower.”
So who hides behind this alias? Is it Robin Banks? Robert Del Naja ? Or a team of several artists?
Well, does it really matter to solve this mystery? Is it really important to know who creates all this work?
Well, does it really matter to solve this mystery? Is it really important to know who creates all this work?
Maybe it is time to stop speculating on his identity and focus more on the messages he is trying to deliver.
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