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Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical
street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...
and subversive
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s combine dark humour with
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
executed in a distinctive
stenciling Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...
technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world. Banksy's work grew out of the
Bristol underground scene The Bristol underground scene was a cultural movement in Bristol beginning in the early 1980s. The scene was born out of a lack of mainstream clubs catering for the emergence of hip hop music, with street and underground parties a mainstay. Cre ...
, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack. Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but his public "installations" are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall they were painted on. Much of his work can be classified as temporary art. A small number of Banksy's works are officially, non-publicly, sold through an agency created by Banksy named Pest Control. Banksy's documentary film '' Exit Through the Gift Shop'' (2010) made its debut at the 2010
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. In January 2011, he was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
for the film. In 2014, he was awarded Person of the Year at the
2014 Webby Awards The 18th annual Webby Awards for 2014 was held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on May 19, 2014, which was hosted by comedian and actor Patton Oswalt. The awards ceremony was streamed live at the Webby Awards website. Lifetime Achievement w ...
.


Identity

Banksy's name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. In a 2003 interview with Simon Hattenstone of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Banksy is described as "white, 28, scruffy casual—jeans, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. He looks like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of
The Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), ''The Hardest Way to M ...
." Banksy began as an artist at the age of 14, was expelled from school, and served time in prison for petty crime. According to Hattenstone, "anonymity is vital to him because graffiti is illegal". Banksy reportedly lived in Easton, Bristol during the late 1990s, before moving to London around 2000. Banksy is commonly believed to be Robin Gunningham, as first identified by '' The Mail on Sunday'' in 2008, born on 28 July 1973 in Yate, from
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. Several of Gunningham's associates and former schoolmates at Bristol Cathedral School have corroborated this, and in 2016, a study by researchers at the Queen Mary University of London using geographic profiling found that the incidence of Banksy's works correlated with the known movements of Gunningham."Banksy 'may abandon commercial art'
. BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2015
"Banksy: the artist who's driven to the wall"
. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015
According to ''The Sunday Times'', Gunningham began employing the name Robin Banks, which eventually became Banksy. Two cassette sleeves featuring his art work from 1993, for the Bristol band Mother Samosa, exist with his signature. In June 2017, DJ
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...
referred to Banksy as "Rob". Other speculations on Banksy's identity include the following: *
Robert Del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole consi ...
(a.k.a. 3D), a member of the trip hop band Massive Attack, had been a graffiti artist during the 1980s prior to forming the band, and was previously identified as a personal friend of Banksy. * In 2020, users on Twitter began to speculate that former '' Art Attack'' presenter
Neil Buchanan Neil Buchanan (born 11 October 1956) is an English artist, photographer, and musician, best known for his work on British children's television. During his tenure as a children's television presenter, he hosted the CITV programme ''Art Attack'' ...
was Banksy. This was denied by Buchanan's publicist. * In 2022, Billy Gannon, a local councillor in
Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock ( cy, Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following ...
was rumoured to be Banksy. He subsequently resigned because the speculation was affecting his ability to carry out the duties of a councillor. "I'm being asked to prove who I am not, and the person that I am not may not exist," he said. "I mean, how am I supposed to prove that I'm not somebody who doesn't exist? Just how do you do that?" In October 2014, an internet hoax circulated that Banksy had been arrested and his identity revealed.


Career


Early career (1990–2001)

Banksy started as a freehand graffiti artist in 1990–1994 as one of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with two other artists known as Kato and Tes. He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger
Bristol underground scene The Bristol underground scene was a cultural movement in Bristol beginning in the early 1980s. The scene was born out of a lack of mainstream clubs catering for the emergence of hip hop music, with street and underground parties a mainstay. Cre ...
with Nick Walker, Inkie and 3D. During this time he met Bristol photographer
Steve Lazarides Steve Lazarides ( el, Στηβ Λαζαρίδης; born c. 1969) is a British-Greek Cypriot publisher, photographer, collector and curator. He has helped popularise street art and underground art. Early life Steve Lazarides grew up in Bristol, ...
, who began selling Banksy's work, later becoming his agent. By 2000 he had turned to the art of
stencil Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...
ling after realising how much less time it took to complete a work. He claims he changed to stencilling while hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London. He was the
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
for the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls football team in the 1990s, and toured with the club to Mexico in 2001. Banksy's first known large wall mural was ''
The Mild Mild West ''The Mild Mild West'' is a mural by graffiti artist Banksy, sited on No. 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol. It depicts a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police. History Banksy painted the artwork over three days in broad daylig ...
'' painted in 1997 to cover advertising of a former solicitors' office on Stokes Croft in Bristol. It depicts a
teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, ...
lobbing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police. Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist, or anti-establishment. Subjects often include rats,
ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...
s, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly. In July 2011 one of Banksy's early works, ''
Gorilla in a Pink Mask ''Gorilla in a Pink Mask'' is an early graffiti work by Banksy. In 2011, it was painted over by Saeed Ahmed's new Muslim cultural centre in Bristol. It originated from 2002. Monkeys are a recurring motif in Banksy's works. They can be found lis ...
'', which had been a prominent landmark on the exterior wall of a former social club in Eastville for over ten years, was unwittingly painted over after the premises became a Muslim cultural centre.


Exhibitions (2002–2003)

On 19 July 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles exhibition debuted at 33 Gallery, a tiny
Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
venue owned by Frank Sosa and was on view until 18 August. The exhibition, entitled ''Existencilism'', ''"an Exhibition of Art, Lies and Deviousness"'' was curated by 33 Gallery, Malathion LA's Chris Vargas, Funk Lazy Promotions' Grace Jehan, and B+. The flyer of the exhibition indicates an opening reception was followed by a performance by Money Mark with DJ's Jun, AL Jackson, Rhettmatic, J.Rocc, Coleman. Some of the paintings exhibited included ''Smiley Copper H'' (2002), ''Leopard and Barcode'' (2002), ''Bomb Hugger'' (2002), and ''Love is in the Air'' (2002). In 2003, at an exhibition called ''
Turf War A turf war is a fight over territory or resources, or may refer to: Music * ''Turf Wars'', a 2007 album by the Canadian band Daggermouth * "Turf War", a song on the 2001 album ''Filmtracks 2000'' by American composer Bill Television * ''Turf Wa ...
'', held in a London warehouse, Banksy painted on animals. At the time he gave one of his very few interviews, to the BBC's
Nigel Wrench Stephen Wrench, known professionally as Nigel Wrench, is a British radio presenter and reporter. He's the only journalist known to have interviewed both the South African activist Winnie Mandela and the British artist Banksy in a long and varied c ...
. Although the RSPCA declared the conditions suitable, an animal rights activist chained herself to the railings in protest. An example of his subverted paintings is
Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
's '' Water Lily Pond'', adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a
shopping trolley "Shopping Trolley" was a 2006 single by English songwriter Beth Orton. It was released as a 2 CD single set and 12 inch vinyl, and an early version of the title song can be purchased from iTunes. Track listing CD: EMI / CDEM 694 United ...
floating in its reflective waters; another is Edward Hopper's '' Nighthawks'', redrawn to show that the characters are looking at a British football hooligan, dressed only in his Union Flag underpants, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the café. These oil paintings were shown at a twelve-day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005. Banksy, along with Shepard Fairey, Dmote, and others, created work at a warehouse exhibition in
Alexandria, Sydney Alexandria is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Alexandria is located 5 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The postcode is 2015. Th ...
, for Semi-Permanent in 2003. Approximately 1,500 people attended.


£10 notes to ''Barely Legal'' (2004–2006)

In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes replacing the picture of the Queen's head with
Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
's head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England". Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at
Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966
that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops. These notes were also given with invitations to a Santa's Ghetto exhibition by Pictures on Walls. The individual notes have since been selling on
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
. A wad of the notes was also thrown over a fence and into the crowd near the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' signing tent at the Reading Festival. A limited run of 50 signed posters containing ten uncut notes was also produced and sold by Pictures on Walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in October 2007 at Bonhams auction house in London for £24,000. The reproduction of images of the banknotes classifies as a criminal offence ( s.18 Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981). In 2016, the American Numismatic Society received an email from a Reproductions Officer at the Bank of England, which brought attention to the illegality of publishing photos of the banknotes on their website without prior permission. The Bank of England holds the copyright over all its banknotes. Also in 2004, Banksy created a limited edition screenprint titled ''Napalm (Can't Beat That Feeling).'' In the print, Banksy appropriated the image of
Phan Thi Kim Phuc Phan Thị Kim Phúc (; born April 6, 1963), referred to informally as the girl in the picture and the Napalm girl, is a South Vietnamese-born Canadian woman best known as the nine-year-old child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize–winning photog ...
, a Vietnamese girl who appeared in the iconic 1972 photograph
The Terror of War Huỳnh Công Út, known professionally as Nick Ut (born March 29, 1951), is a Vietnamese-American photographer who worked for the Associated Press (AP) in Los Angeles. He won both the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the 1973 W ...
by
Nick Ut Huỳnh Công Út, known professionally as Nick Ut (born March 29, 1951), is a Vietnamese-American photographer who worked for the Associated Press (AP) in Los Angeles. He won both the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the 1973 W ...
. ''Napalm'' shows the image of Kim Phuc as seen in the original photo, but no longer within the tragic war setting. Instead, he situates the young girl against an empty background, still screaming, but now accompanied by Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse. The two characters hold her hands as they cheerfully gesture to an invisible audience, seemingly oblivious to the terrified girl. The image of Kim Phuc is flat, grainy and monochromatic; in most of the prints, Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse are yellow. In a few limited prints, the corporate characters wear pink or orange. Banksy produced 150 signed and 500 unsigned copies of ''Napalm''. In August 2005, Banksy, on a trip to the
Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
, created nine images on the
Israeli West Bank wall The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Isr ...
. Banksy held an exhibition called '' Barely Legal'', billed as a "three-day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles, on the weekend of 16 September 2006. The exhibition featured a live " elephant in a room", painted in a pink and gold floral wallpaper pattern, which, according to leaflets handed out at the exhibition, was intended to draw attention to the issue of world poverty. Although the Animal Services Department had issued a permit for the elephant, after complaints from
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
activists, the elephant appeared unpainted on the final day. Its owners rejected claims of mistreatment and said that the elephant had done "many, many movies. She's used to makeup." Banksy also made artwork displaying
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
as a lesbian and satirical pieces that incorporated art made by
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
and
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
.


Banksy effect (2006–2007)

After Christina Aguilera bought an original of Queen Victoria as a lesbian and two prints for £25,000, on 19 October 2006, a set of
Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
paintings sold in
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
London for £50,400, setting an auction record for Banksy's work. The six silk-screen prints, featuring the model painted in the style of
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
's Marilyn Monroe pictures, sold for five times their estimated price. Their stencil of a green ''
Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...
'' with real paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at the same auction. In December, journalist
Max Foster Max Foster (born 30 October 1972) is an anchor and correspondent for CNN, based in London. He hosts the 1pm GMT edition of CNN Newsroom. Education Foster spent most of his childhood in Wiltshire, England where he attended The Ridgeway School ...
coined the phrase, "the Banksy effect", to illustrate how interest in other street artists was growing on the back of Banksy's success. On 21 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in London auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for ''
Bombing Middle England ''Bombing Middle England'' is a painting by graffiti artist Banksy. It is made of acrylic and spray paint on canvas, and depicts pensioners bowling with bombs in a manner reminiscent of Cinders McLeod's 1999 drawing ''Anarchic Granny''. In 2007, i ...
''. Two of his other graffiti works, ''
Girl with Balloon ''Girl with Balloon'' (also, ''Balloon Girl'' or ''Girl and Balloon'') is a 2002-started London series of Stencil graffiti, stencil murals by the graffiti artist Banksy, depicting a young girl with her hand extended toward a red heart-shaped Toy ...
'' and '' Bomb Hugger'', sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices. The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices: ''
Ballerina with Action Man Parts ''Ballerina with Action Man Parts'' is a 2007 sculpture by graffiti artist Banksy. In 2007, it sold for £96,000. See also * List of works by Banksy The following is a list of works by Banksy. Banksy, active since the 1990s, is an England-ba ...
'' reached £96,000; '' Glory'' sold for £72,000; '' Untitled (2004)'' sold for £33,600; all significantly above price estimates. To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit." In February 2007, the owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
decided to sell the house through Red Propeller art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural that comes with a house attached. In April 2007, Transport for London painted over Banksy's
image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
of a scene from
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
's film '' Pulp Fiction'' (1994), featuring
Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
and
John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
clutching bananas instead of guns. Although the image was very popular, Transport for London claimed that the graffiti created "a general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime" and their staff are "professional cleaners not professional art critics". Banksy painted the same site again and, initially, the actors were portrayed as holding real guns instead of bananas, but they were adorned with banana costumes. Sometime later, Banksy made a tribute artwork over this second ''Pulp Fiction'' work. The tribute was for 19-year-old British graffiti artist Ozone who, along with fellow artist Wants, was hit by an underground train in Barking, east London on 12 January 2007. Banksy depicted an angel wearing a bullet-proof vest holding a skull. He also wrote a note on his website saying: On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work ''
Space Girl and Bird ''Space Girl and Bird'' is a painting by graffiti artist Banksy. The spray painted on steel work was commissioned by Blur to serve as cover art for their album ''Think Tank''. In 2007, it was sold at auction to an American bidder for £288,000, tw ...
'' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000) around 20 times the estimate at Bonhams of London. On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's Greatest living Briton. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award and continued with his anonymous status. On 4 June 2007, it was reported that Banksy's '' The Drinker'' had been stolen. In October 2007, most of his works offered for sale at Bonhams auction house in London sold for more than twice their reserve price. Banksy has published a "
manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
" on his website. The text of the manifesto is credited as the diary entry of British
Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Mervin Willett Gonin, DSO, which is exhibited in the
Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
. It describes how a shipment of lipstick to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp immediately after its liberation at the end of World War II helped the internees regain their humanity. However, as of 18 January 2008, Banksy's Manifesto has been replaced with Graffiti Heroes No. 03, which describes Peter Chappell's graffiti quest of the 1970s that worked to free George Davis from imprisonment. By 12 August 2009 he was relying on
Emo Philips Emo Philips (born Philip Soltanec February 7, 1956) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer and producer. His stand-up comedy persona makes use of paraprosdokians spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice. The confused, childlike deli ...
' "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn't work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness." A small number of Banksy's works can be seen in the movie ''
Children of Men ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredi ...
'', including a stenciled image of two policemen kissing and another stencil of a child looking down a shop. Banksy, who "is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his work second hand (including Lazarides Ltd, Andipa Gallery, Bank Robber, Dreweatts etc.)", claims that the exhibition at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York City (his first major exhibition in that city) is unauthorised. The exhibition featured 62 of their paintings and prints.


2008

In March, Nathan Wellard and Maev Neal, a couple from Norfolk, UK, made headlines in Britain when they decided to sell their mobile home that contains a 30-foot mural, entitled '' Fragile Silence'', done by Banksy a decade prior to his rise to fame. According to Nathan Wellard, Banksy had asked the couple if he could use the side of their home as a "large canvas", to which they agreed. In return for the "canvas", the Bristol stencil artist gave them two free tickets to the
Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
. The mobile home purchased by the couple 11 years earlier for £1,000, was priced at £500,000. Also in March 2008, a stencilled graffiti work appeared on
Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltshir ...
tower in the middle of the Holland Park roundabout, and it was widely attributed to Banksy. It was of a child painting the tag "Take this—Society!" in bright orange. London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham spokesman, Councillor Greg Smith branded the art as vandalism, and ordered its immediate removal, which was carried out by H&F council workmen within three days. In late August 2008, marking the third anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
and the associated levee failure disaster, Banksy produced a series of works in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, Louisiana, mostly on buildings derelict since the disaster. A stencil painting attributed to Banksy appeared at a vacant petrol station in the Ensley neighbourhood of
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
on 29 August as Hurricane Gustav approached the New Orleans area. The painting, depicting a hooded member of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
hanging from a noose, was quickly covered with black spray paint and later removed altogether.Banksy's Road Trip Continues: Takes On The KKK In Birmingham, Alabama
, Marc Schiller, ''
Wooster Collective Wooster Collective is a website founded in 2003 that showcases street art from around the world. ''The'' ''New York Times'' called it "a leading street-art blog." It features ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world. The site als ...
''
His first official exhibition in New York City, '' The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill'', opened 5 October 2008. The animatronic pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby
Chicken McNuggets Chicken McNuggets are a type of chicken nuggets sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. They consist of small pieces of reconstituted boneless chicken meat that have been battered and deep fried. Chicken McNuggets we ...
as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror. The
Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...
stated in October 2008 that the work '' One Nation Under CCTV'', painted in April 2008 would be painted over as it was graffiti. The council said it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy "has no more right to paint graffiti than a child". Robert Davis, the chairman of the council planning committee told ''The Times'' newspaper: "If we condone this then we might as well say that any kid with a spray can is producing art." The work was painted over in April 2009. In December 2008, ''The Little Diver'', a Banksy image of a diver in a duffle coat in Melbourne, Australia, was destroyed. The image had been protected by a sheet of clear
perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
; however, silver paint was poured behind the protective sheet and later tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere". The image was almost completely obliterated.


The Cans Festival (2008)

In London, over the weekend 3–5 May 2008, Banksy hosted an exhibition called ''The Cans Festival''. It was situated on
Leake Street Leake Street (also known as the Banksy Tunnel) is a road tunnel in Lambeth, London where graffiti is tolerated regardless of the fact that it is against the law. The street is about 300 metres long, runs off York Road, Lambeth, York Road and u ...
, a road tunnel formerly used by Eurostar underneath
London Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a London station group, central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connecte ...
. Graffiti artists with stencils were invited to join in and paint their own artwork, as long as it did not cover anyone else's. Banksy invited artists from around the world to exhibit their works.


2009

In May 2009, Banksy parted company with agent
Steve Lazarides Steve Lazarides ( el, Στηβ Λαζαρίδης; born c. 1969) is a British-Greek Cypriot publisher, photographer, collector and curator. He has helped popularise street art and underground art. Early life Steve Lazarides grew up in Bristol, ...
and announced that Pest Control, the handling service who act on his behalf, would be the only point of sale for new works. On 13 June 2009, the Banksy vs Bristol Museum show opened at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, featuring more than 100 works of art, including animatronics and installations; it is his largest exhibition yet, featuring 78 new works. Reaction to the show was positive, with over 8,500 visitors to the show on the first weekend. Over the course of the twelve weeks, the exhibition was visited over 300,000 times. In September 2009, a Banksy work parodying the Royal Family was partially destroyed by Hackney Council after they served an enforcement notice for graffiti removal to the former address of the property owner. The mural had been commissioned for the 2003 Blur single " Crazy Beat" and the property owner, who had allowed it to be painted, was reported to have been in tears when she saw it was being painted over. In December 2009, Banksy marked the end of the
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December. The conference included the 15th session of the Conference of the Partie ...
by painting four murals on global warming. One included the phrase, "I don't believe in global warming;" the words were submerged in water. A feud and graffiti war between Banksy and
King Robbo King Robbo (born John Robertson, 23 October 1969 – 31 July 2014) was an English underground graffiti artist. His feud with the artist Banksy was the subject of a Channel 4 television documentary called ''Graffiti Wars'', first shown in A ...
broke out when Banksy allegedly painted over one of Robbo's tags. The feud has led to many of Banksy's works being altered by graffiti writers.


''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' and United States (2010)

The world premiere of the film '' Exit Through the Gift Shop'' occurred at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
in
Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...
, on 24 January. He created 10 street artworks around Park City and
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
to tie in with the screening. In February, The Whitehouse public house in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England, was sold for £114,000 at auction. The side of the building has an image of a giant rat by Banksy. In March 2010, a modified version of the work '' Forgive Us Our Trespassing''–a kneeling boy with a spray-painted halo–was displayed at London Bridge Station on a poster. This version of the work did not possess the halo due to its stylistic nature and the prevalence of graffiti in the underground. After a few days the halo was repainted by a graffitist, so Transport for London disposed of the poster. In April, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in San Francisco, five of his works appeared in various parts of the city. Banksy reportedly paid a San Francisco Chinatown building owner $50 for the use of their wall for one of his stencils. In May 2010, seven new Banksy works of art appeared in Toronto, Canada, though most have been subsequently painted over or removed. In May, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in Royal Oak, Banksy visited the Detroit area and left his mark in several places in Detroit and Warren. Shortly after, his work depicting a little boy holding a can of red paint next to the words "I remember when all this was trees" was excavated by the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios. They claim that they do not intend to sell the work but plan to preserve it and display it at their Detroit gallery. There was also an attempted removal of one of the Warren works known as ''Diamond Girl''. While in the United States, Banksy also completed a painting in Chinatown, Boston, known as Follow Your Dreams. In late January 2011, ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Banksy released a statement about the nomination, stating, "This is a big surprise... I don't agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I'm prepared to make an exception for the ones I'm nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me." Leading up to the Oscars, Banksy blanketed Los Angeles with street art. Many people speculated if Banksy would show up at the Oscars in disguise and make a surprise appearance if he won the Oscar. ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' did not win the award, which went to '' Inside Job''. In early March 2011, Banksy responded to the Oscars with an artwork in Weston-super-Mare, UK, of a little girl holding the Oscar and pouting. Many people think that it is about 15-month-old Lara, who dropped and damaged her father's (''The King's Speech'' co-producer Simon Egan) Oscar statue. ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was broadcast on British public television station
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
on 13 August 2011. Banksy was credited with the opening couch gag for the 2010 ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode " MoneyBart", depicting people working in deplorable conditions and using endangered or mythical animals to make both the episodes cel-by-cel and the merchandise connected with the program. His name appears several times throughout the episode's opening sequence, spray-painted on assorted walls and signs. Fox sanitised parts of the opening "for taste" and to make it less grim. In January 2011, Banksy published the original storyboard on its website. According to Banksy, the storyboard "led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walkout by the animation department." Executive director Al Jean jokingly said, "This is what you get when you outsource."


2011

In May 2011 Banksy released a lithographic print which showed a smoking
petrol bomb A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flammab ...
contained in a '
Tesco Value In the United Kingdom, it is common practice for retailers to have their own value brand in an effort to compete on price. These brands have become more popular in the UK with shoppers since the Great Recession caused food prices to rise. The big ...
' bottle. This followed a long-running campaign by locals against the opening of a Tesco Express supermarket in Banksy's home city of Bristol. Violent clashes had taken place between police and demonstrators in the Stokes Croft area. Banksy produced the poster ostensibly to raise money for local groups in the Stokes Croft area and to raise money for the legal defence of those arrested during the riots. The posters were sold exclusively at the Bristol Anarchists Bookfair in Stokes Croft for £5 each. In December, he unveiled '' Cardinal Sin'' at the
Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...
, Liverpool. The bust, which replaces a priest's face with a "pixelated" effect, was a statement on the
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
scandal in the Catholic Church.


2012

In May his ''
Parachuting Rat ''Parachuting Rat'' was a series of artworks in Melbourne, Australia, created by Banksy. On 26 April 2010, one was painted over by council contractors, leading to local and international coverage and debate on the nature of street art and its p ...
'', painted in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
in the late 1990s, was accidentally destroyed by plumbers installing new pipes. In July, prior to the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Banksy posted photographs of paintings with an Olympic theme on his website but did not disclose their location.


2013

On 18 February, BBC News reported that a recent Banksy mural, known as the ''Slave Labour'' mural portraying a young child sewing Union Flag bunting (created around the time of the
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...
) had been removed from the side of a
Poundland Poundland is a British variety store chain founded in 1990. It once sold most items at the single price of £1, including Closeout (sale), clearance items and proprietary brands. The first Pilot (experiment), pilot store opened in December 19 ...
store in Wood Green, north London, and soon appeared for sale in Fine Art Auctions Miami's catalogue (a US auction site based in Florida). News of this had reportedly caused "lots of anger" in the local community and is considered by some to be a theft. Fine Art Auctions Miami had rejected claims of theft, saying it had signed a contract with a "well-known collector" and that "everything was above board"; despite this, the local Councillor for Wood Green campaigned for the work's return. On the scheduled day of the auction, Fine Art Auctions Miami announced that it had withdrawn the work of art from the sale. On 11 May, BBC News reported that the same Banksy mural was up for auction again in Covent Garden by the Sincura Group. The auction was scheduled to take place in June, and was expected to fetch up to £450,000. On 24 September, after over a year since his previous piece, a new mural went up on his website along with the subtitle ''Better Out Than In''.


''Better Out Than In'' (2013)

On 1 October 2013, Banksy began a one-month "show on the streets of New York [City]", for which he opened a separate website and granted an interview to ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' via his publicist. A pop-up boutique of about 25 spray-art canvases appeared on
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
near
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
on 12 October. Tourists were able to buy Banksy art for just $60 each. In a note posted to his website, the artist wrote: "Please note this was a one-off. The stall will not be there again." The BBC estimated that the street-stall art pieces could be worth as much as $31,000. The booth was manned by an unknown elderly man who went about four hours before making a sale, yawning and eating lunch as people strolled by without a second glance at the work. Banksy chronicled the surprise sale in a video posted to his website noting, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each." Two of the canvasses sold at a July 2014 auction for $214,000. Asked about the artist's presence in New York, then-
New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
, who had led a citywide
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
cleanup operation in 2002, said he didn't consider graffiti a form of art. One creation was a fiberglass sculpture of Ronald McDonald and a real person, barefoot and in ragged clothes, shining the oversized shoes of Ronald McDonald. The sculpture was unveiled in
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
but moved outside a different
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
around the city every day. Other works included a YouTube video showing what appears to be footage of jihadist militants shooting down an animated Dumbo; travelling installations that toured the city including a slaughterhouse delivery truck full of stuffed animals and a waterfall; and a modified painting donated to a charity shop which was later sold in an online auction for $615,000. Banksy also posted a mock-up of a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
attacking the design of the One World Trade Center after the ''Times'' rejected his submission. The residency in New York concluded on 31 October 2013; many of the pieces, though, were either vandalised, removed or stolen.


2015


"Banksy in Gaza" clip

In February 2015 Banksy published a 2-minute video titled ''Make this the year YOU discover a new destination'' about his trip to
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. During the visit he painted a few artworks including a kitten on the remains of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike ("I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website—but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens") and a swing hanging off a watchtower. In a statement to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' his publicist said,


Dismaland

Banksy opened Dismaland, a large scale group show modelled on Disneyland on 21 August 2015. It lampooned the many disappointing temporary themed attractions in the UK at the time. Dismaland permanently closed on 27 September 2015. The "theme park" was located in Weston-super-Mare, United Kingdom. According to the Dismaland website, artists represented on the show include Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer.


''The Son of a Migrant from Syria''

In December 2015, Banksy created several murals in the vicinity of
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
, France, including the so-called "
Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
" where migrants then lived as they attempted to enter the United Kingdom. One of the pieces, ''
The Son of a Migrant from Syria ''The Son of a Migrant from Syria'' is a 2015 mural by graffiti artist Banksy. The mural was located in the Calais jungle, a nickname for the encampment near Calais, France, where migrants lived as they attempted to enter the United Kingdom. T ...
,'' depicts
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
as a migrant.


2017


Walled Off Hotel

In 2017, marking the 100th anniversary of the British control of Palestine, Banksy financed the creation of the Walled Off Hotel in
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
. This hotel is open to the public and contains rooms designed by Banksy, Sami Musa, and Dominique Petrin, and each of the bedrooms face the wall. It also houses a contemporary art gallery.


2018


Return to New York

2018 saw Banksy return to New York five years after his ''Better Out Than In'' residency. A trademark rat running around the circumference of a clock-face, dubbed ''Rat race'', was torn down by developers within a week of it appearing on a former bank building at 101 West 14th Street, but other works, including a mural of imprisoned Kurdish artist
Zehra Doğan Zehra Doğan (born 14 April 1989) is a Kurdish artist and journalist and author from Diyarbakır, Turkey. In 2017, she was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months and 22 days in prison for "terrorist propaganda" because of her news coverage, social media ...
on the famed Bowery Wall and a series of others across Brooklyn, remain on display.


''Balloon Girl'' Shredding

In October 2018, one of Banksy's works, '' Balloon Girl'', was sold in an auction at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
in London for £1.04m. However, shortly after the gavel dropped and it was sold, an alarm sounded inside of the picture frame and the canvas passed through a shredder hidden within the frame, partially shredding the picture. Banksy then posted an image of the shredding on Instagram captioned "Going, going, gone...". After the sale, the auction house acknowledged that the self-destruction of the work was a prank by the artist. The prank received wide news coverage around the world, with one newspaper stating that it was "quite possibly the biggest prank in art history." Joey Syer, co-founder of an online platform facilitating art dealer sales, told the ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'': "The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the £1.02M they paid last night, this is now part of art history in its shredded state and we'd estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% to its value, possibly as high as being worth £2m+." A man seen filming the shredding of the picture during its auction has been suggested to be Banksy. Banksy has since released a video on how the shredder was installed into the frame and the shredding of the picture, explaining that he had surreptitiously fitted the painting with the shredder a few years previously, in case it ever went up for auction. To explain his rationale for destroying his own artwork, Banksy quoted Picasso: "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge". (Although Banksy cited Picasso, this quote is usually attributed to Mikhail Bakunin.) It is not known how the shredder was activated. Banksy has released another video indicating that the painting was intended to be shredded completely. The video shows a sample painting completely shredded by the frame and says: "In rehearsals it worked every time...". The woman who won the bidding at the auction decided to go through with the purchase. The partially shredded work has been given a new title, '' Love is in the Bin'', and it was authenticated by Banksy's authentication body Pest Control. Sotheby released a statement that said "Banksy didn't destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one," and called it "the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction." On 14 October 2021, the half-shredded painting was reported to have been sold for $25.4 million.


''Season's Greetings''

A two-sided graffiti piece, one side depicting a child tasting the falling snow, the other revealing that the snow is in fact smoke and embers from a dumpster fire, appeared on two walls of a steelworker's garage in Port Talbot in December. Banksy then revealed that the painting was in fact his via an
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
video soundtracked by the festive children's song 'Little Snowflake'. Many fans of the artist went to see the painting and Plaid Cymru
councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
for
Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...
, Nigel Thomas Hunt, stated that the town was "buzzing" with speculation that the work was Banksy's. The owner of the garage, Ian Lewis, said that he had lost sleep over fears that the image would be vandalised. A plastic screen, partially funded by Michael Sheen, was installed to protect the mural, but was attacked by a "drunk halfwit". Extra security guards were subsequently drafted to protect the graffiti piece. In May 2019, the mural was moved to a gallery in the town's Ty'r Orsaf building.


2019


Trademark dispute

In early October 2019, Banksy opened a "pop-up shop" named ''Gross Domestic Product'' in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, South London to strengthen his position in a trademark dispute with a greetings cards company who had challenged his trademark on the grounds that he was not using it. In a statement, Banksy said "A greetings cards company is contesting the trademark I hold to my art, and attempting to take custody of my name so they can sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally." Mark Stephens, arts lawyer and founder of the Design and Artists Copyright Society, called the case a "ludicrous litigation" and is providing the artist legal advice. Stephens recommended opening the shop to Banksy on the grounds that it would show he is making use of his trademark, saying: "Because anksydoesn't produce his own range of shoddy merchandise and the law is quite clear—if the trademark holder is not using the mark, then it can be transferred to someone who will." On 4 October 2019, greetings cards distributor Full Colour Black publicly revealed itself as the company involved in the trademark dispute whilst rejecting Banksy's claims as "entirely untrue". The company claimed it had contacted Banksy's lawyers several times to offer to pay royalties. On 14 September 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled in favour of Full Colour Black in the trademark dispute over Banksy's infamous "Flower Thrower" The European panel judges in (Full Colour Black Ltd v Pest Control Office Ltd
020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...
E.T.M.R. 58) decided that Banksy's trademark was invalid as it had been filed in Bad Faith according to Regulation 2017/1001 art.59(1)(b). The judges were not convinced that the opening of the artist's "pop-up shop" demonstrated a real intention to legitimise the trademark, condemning it as "inconsistent with the honest practices of the trade" t 1141 The artist's choice to be represented anonymously was not received well by the court either, noting that even if they found in favour of Banksy, legal rights could not be attributed to an unidentifiable person
151 Year 151 (CLI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Condianus and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 904 ''Ab urbe cond ...
However, counsel for the defence strongly argued that to reveal his identity would diminish the persona of the artist
t 1135 T, or t, is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...
Although not binding, the judges also referenced Banksy's previously critical statements about copyright, which contributed to the lack of sympathy for the artist's case t 1144


Record sale for ''Devolved Parliament''

In October 2019, ''Devolved Parliament'', a 2009 painting by Banksy showing
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
depicted as chimpanzees in the House of Commons, sold at Sotheby's in London for just under £9.9 million. On Instagram, the artist said it was a "record price for a Banksy painting" and "shame I didn't still own it". At wide it is Banksy's biggest known work on canvas. The auction house stated: "Regardless of where you sit in the
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
debate, there's no doubt that this work is more pertinent now than it has ever been."


2020


Valentine's Day

On 13 February 2020, the
Valentine's Banksy ''Valentine's Banksy'' is a 2020 mural by the graffiti artist Banksy. It appeared in Bristol, United Kingdom in the early hours of the morning on 13 February 2020, prior to Valentine's Day. The picture shows a young girl firing a burst of red ...
mural appeared on the side of a building in Bristol's Barton Hill neighbourhood, depicting a young girl firing a slingshot of real red flowers and leaves. In the early hours of
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
(14 February), Banksy confirmed this was his work on his Instagram account and website. The painting was defaced just days after appearing.


Painting for Saints

Banksy dedicated a painting titled ''
Painting for Saints ''Painting for Saints'' or ''Game Changer'' is a 2020 painting by Banksy, who donated it to the Southampton General Hospital in Southern England, United Kingdom. The artwork depicts a child playing with a toy nurse, having selected the toy over ...
'' or ''Game Changer'' to NHS staff, and donated it to the University Hospital of Southampton during the global coronavirus pandemic in May 2020. The painting was sold for £14.4m (£16.8m including buyer premium) on 23 March 2021, which is a record for an artwork by Banksy. The proceeds from the sale would benefit a number of NHS-related organisations and charities.


2021


Escaping prisoner in Reading

In March 2021, the image of an escaping prisoner appeared overnight on the side of
Reading Prison HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service until its closure at the start of 2014. It is a Grade II listed building and ...
. Two days later Banksy claimed the artwork. The former jail's next use had been disputed locally, some wanting it to be used as an arts hub, while developers proposed it could be sold to a housing developer. The escaping prisoner was said to resemble
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, who had been imprisoned in Reading Prison, with the "rope" as tied together bedsheets with a typewriter attached to the end.


''A Great British Spraycation''

In August 2021, several Banksy artworks, collectively titled ''
A Great British Spraycation ''A Great British Spraycation'' are a series of 2021 artworks by the anonymous British street artist Banksy in various East Anglian towns in England. Pieces appeared in Great Yarmouth, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Gorleston-on-Sea, Cromer, and K ...
'', appeared in several
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
n towns.


''The Outlaws''

Banksy created an original artwork for the 2021
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
/
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
comedy '' The Outlaws''. The image of a stencilled rat sitting on two spray cans signed by Banksy featured in the sixth episode of the first series, and was painted over by the character Frank, played by
Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
, while he was cleaning a graffiti-covered wall as part of his
Community Payback Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...
sentence.


2022

In November 2022, Banksy posted on social media images of a mural on the side of a damaged building at the town of Borodianka, appearing to confirm a visit to Ukraine following the Russian invasion. He also created six murals in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Irpin, Hostomel and Horenka.


Other notable artworks

Banksy has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile artworks, including the following: * At
London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
, he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in letters. * At London Zoo, he left the message "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring." in the elephant enclosure. * In 2004, he placed the piece
Banksus Militus Ratus ''Banksus Militus Ratus'' is a piece of artwork by British artist Banksy. The piece consists of a stuffed rat with a spray can in a glass-fronted box. Banksy first exhibited the piece in 2004 in the foyer of London's Natural History Museum, London ...
into London's Natural History Museum. * In March 2005, he placed subverted artworks in the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, and
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
as well as the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. * In May 2005 Banksy's version of a primitive
cave painting In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 ye ...
depicting a human figure hunting wildlife while pushing a shopping trolley was hung in gallery 49 of the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London. * In August 2005, Banksy painted nine images on the Israeli West Bank barrier, including an image of a ladder going up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall. * In October 2005, Banksy designed six station IDs for
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
. * In April 2006, Banksy created a sculpture based on a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side, apparently bleeding, and placed it in a side street in
Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...
, London. It was later removed by Westminster Council. * In June 2006, Banksy created '' Well Hung Lover'', an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall visible from Park Street in central
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. The image sparked "a heated debate",''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'' by Steve Wright (2007), p. 93 with the Bristol City Council leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go. After an internet discussion in which 97% of the 500 people surveyed supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building. The mural was later defaced with blue paint. * In August/September 2006, Banksy placed up to 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut CD, ''
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
'', in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by
Danger Mouse Danger Mouse may refer (or appear in) to: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series * Danger Mouse (musician) (born ...
. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why Am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". Several copies of the CD were purchased by the public before stores were able to remove them, some going on to be sold for as much as £750 on online auction websites such as
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
. The cover art depicted Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with her chihuahua Tinkerbell's head replacing her own, and one of her stepping out of a luxury car, edited to include a group of homeless people, which included the caption "90% of success is just showing up." * In September 2006, Banksy dressed an inflatable doll in the manner of a Guantanamo Bay detainment camp prisoner ( orange jumpsuit, black hood, and handcuffs) and then placed the figure within the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at the
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
theme park in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
. * He makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and was responsible for the cover art of Blur's 2003 album ''
Think Tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
''. * In September 2007, Banksy covered a wall in Portobello Road with a French artist painting graffiti of Banksy's name. *A guard/police officer with a
balloon animal Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon decoration sculptures are called Twisters, Ballo ...
was painted in the Canadian city of Toronto in 2010, and has since been removed from its original location and preserved. * In July 2012, in the run up to the
London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Olympic games he created several pieces based upon this event. One included an image of an athlete throwing a missile instead of a
javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
, evidently taking a poke at the
surface to air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
sites positioned in the Stratford area to defend the games. * In April 2014, he created a piece in
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
, near the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) headquarters, which depicts three men wearing sunglasses and using listening devices to "snoop" on a telephone box, evidently criticising the recent
Global surveillance disclosures Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
of 2013. This was only confirmed by Banksy as his work later in June 2014. This piece 'disappeared' on 20 August 2016 during renovations to the building it was on, and may have been destroyed. * In June 2016, a 14 ft painting of a child with a stick chasing a burning tyre was found in the Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol with a letter from Banksy thanking the school for naming one of its houses after him. BBC News reported that a spokesman for Banksy confirmed that the artwork was genuine. In the letter, Banksy wrote that if the members of the school did not like the painting, they should add their own elements. * In May 2017, Banksy claimed the authorship of a giant
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
, painted on a house in Dover (Kent) * Banksy's ''Dream Boat'', originally made for the Dismaland exhibition, was donated to the NGO Help Refugees (now called
Choose Love ''Choose Love'' is the 14th studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 2005. Background and recording Recorded throughout 2004 into 2005, using the same team that created ''Vertical Man'' (1998) and ''Ringo Rama'' (2003), Starr produced the set wi ...
) to help raise funds for the charity. The artwork was displayed in Help Refugees' London Choose Love pop-up shop in the run-up to Christmas 2018, and members of the public could pay £2.00 to enter a competition to guess the weight of the piece. The person with the closest guess would win ''Dream Boat''. The 'guess-the-weight' competition was seen as 'deliberately school fair' in style. File:Mauer-betlehem.jpg, Near
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
 – 2005 File:Banksy - Grin Reaper With Tag.jpg, The "Grin Reaper" File:The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum.jpg, The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum


Damaged artwork

Many artworks by Banksy have been vandalised, painted over or destroyed. In 2008, in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, paint was poured over a stencil of an old-fashioned diver wearing a trench coat. In April 2010, the Melbourne City Council reported that they had inadvertently ordered private contractors to paint over a rat descending in a parachute adorning the wall of an old council building behind the Forum Theatre. Many works that make up the ''Better Out Than In'' series in New York City have been defaced, some just hours after the piece was unveiled. At least one defacement was identified as done by a competing artist, OMAR NYC, who spray-painted over Banksy's red mylar balloon piece in Red Hook. OMAR NYC also defaced some of Banksy's work in May 2010.


Technique

Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in the stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photographic quality of much of his work. He mentions in his book ''Wall and Piece'' that as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. He claims he changed to stencilling while hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number. He then devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour. There exists a debate about the influence behind his work. Some critics claim Banksy was influenced by musician and graffiti artist 3D. Another source credits the artist's work to resemble that of French graffiti artist
Blek le Rat Blek le Rat (; born Xavier Prou, 1952) is a French graffiti artist. He was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti". Early life Xavier Prou was born on 15 November 1951 in Boulogne- ...
. It is said that Banksy was inspired by their use of stencils, later taking this visual style and transforming it through modern political and social pieces. Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. Subjects often include rats, apes, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly. In the broader art world,
stencils Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...
are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. This technique allows artists to paint quickly to protect their anonymity. There is dispute in the street art world over the legitimacy of stencils, with many artists criticising their use as "cheating". In 2018, Banksy created a piece live, as it was being auctioned. The piece, titled, '' Love is in the Bin'', was originally the painting, ''
Girl with Balloon ''Girl with Balloon'' (also, ''Balloon Girl'' or ''Girl and Balloon'') is a 2002-started London series of Stencil graffiti, stencil murals by the graffiti artist Banksy, depicting a young girl with her hand extended toward a red heart-shaped Toy ...
'', before it was shredded at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
. While the bidding was going on, a shredder was activated from within the frame, and the piece was partially shredded, thus creating a new piece.


Political and social themes

Banksy once characterised graffiti as a form of underclass "revenge", or
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
that allows an individual to snatch away power, territory and glory from a bigger and better equipped enemy. Banksy sees a social class component to this
struggle Struggle may refer to: Film and TV * ''Struggle'' (2003 film), an Austrian film * Struggle (2013 film) * ''Struggle'' (TV series), 2007 Chinese TV series Music * ''Struggle'' (Nonpoint album), 1999 release * Struggle (Woody Guthrie album), 1 ...
, remarking "If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead." Banksy's work has also shown a desire to mock centralised power, hoping that their work will show the public that although power does exist and works against you, that power is not terribly efficient and it can and should be deceived. Banksy's works have dealt with various political and social themes, including
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
,
anti-consumerism Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology that is opposed to consumerism, the continual buying and consuming of material possessions. Anti-consumerism is concerned with the private actions of business corporations in pursuit of financial and ...
,
anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
,
anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...
,
anti-authoritarianism Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" and ...
,
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
,
nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...
, and
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
. Additionally, the components of the human condition that his works commonly critique are greed, poverty,
hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
, boredom, despair,
absurdity An absurdity is a state or condition of being extremely unreasonable, meaningless or unsound in reason so as to be irrational or not taken seriously. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "Tyler and the boys laughed at ...
, and alienation. Although Banksy's works usually rely on visual imagery and iconography to put forth their message, Banksy has made several politically related comments in various books. In summarising his list of "people who should be shot", he listed "Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, (and) people who write lists telling you who should be shot." While facetiously describing his political nature, Banksy declared that "Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world, I can't even finish my second apple pie." Banksy's work has also critiqued the environmental impacts of big businesses. When speaking about his 2005 work ''Show me the Monet,'' Banksy explained: "The vandalised paintings reflect life as it is now. We don't live in a world like Constable's Haywain anymore and, if you do, there is probably a travellers' camp on the other side of the hill. The real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business... exactly the people who put gold-framed pictures of landscapes on their walls and try to tell the rest of us how to behave." ''Show me the Monet'' repurposes
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
's ''Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies,'' with the inclusion of two shopping carts and an orange traffic cone. This painting was later sold for £7.5 million at Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction in 2020. During the
2017 United Kingdom general election The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing ...
, Banksy offered voters a free print if they cast a ballot against the Conservative candidates standing in the Bristol North West, Bristol West, North Somerset, Thornbury, Kingswood and Filton constituencies. According to a note posted on Banksy's website, an emailed photo of a completed ballot paper showing it marked for a candidate other than the Conservative candidate would result in the voter being mailed a limited edition piece of Banksy art. On 5 June 2017 the Avon and Somerset Constabulary announced it had opened an investigation into Banksy for the suspected
corrupt practice Corrupt practices in English election law includes bribery, treating, undue influence, personation, and aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring personation. English election law Corrupt practices were created in United Kingdom common law ...
of bribery, and the following day Banksy withdrew the offer stating "I have been warned by the Electoral Commission that the free print offer will invalidate the election result. So I regret to announce that this ill-conceived and legally dubious promotion has now been cancelled." During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Banksy referenced medical advice to
self-isolate In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers, ...
by creating an artwork in his bathroom.


Philanthropy and activism

Banksy has donated a number of works to promote various causes, such as '' Civilian Drone Strike'', which was sold in 2017 at £205,000 to raise funds for Campaign Against Arms Trade and Reprieve. It was part of the exhibition 'Art the Arms Fair' set up in opposition to the DSEI arms fair. In 2018, a sculpture titled ''Dream Boat'', which was exhibited in Dismaland in 2015, was raffled off in aid of the NGO Help Refugees (now called
Choose Love ''Choose Love'' is the 14th studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 2005. Background and recording Recorded throughout 2004 into 2005, using the same team that created ''Vertical Man'' (1998) and ''Ringo Rama'' (2003), Starr produced the set wi ...
) for a minimum donation of £2 for every guesses of its weight in a pop-up Choose Love shop in Carnaby Street. In 2002, he produced artwork for the
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
campaign Save or Delete. He also provided works to support local causes; in 2013, a work titled ''The Banality of the Banality of Evil'' was sold for an undisclosed amount after a failed auction to support an anti-homelessness charity in New York, In 2014, an artwork on a doorway titled ''Mobile Lovers'' was sold £403,000 to keep a youth club in Bristol open, and he created merchandise for homeless charities in Bristol in 2019. Banksy has been producing a number of works and projects in support of the Palestinians since the mid-2000s, including
The Walled Off Hotel The Walled Off Hotel is a boutique hotel designed by anonymous London-based artist Banksy alongside other creatives. It is located in Bethlehem, from Ben Gurion Airport. Established in March 2017, and initially set out to only be a temporary ex ...
in
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
. In July 2020, Banksy sold three paintings forming a triptych titled ''Mediterranean Sea View 2017'', which raised £2.2 million for a hospital in Bethlehem. The paintings were original created for The Walled Off Hotel, and are Romantic-era paintings of the seashore that have been modified with images of lifebuoys and orange life jackets washed up on the shore, a reference to the European migrant crisis. Banksy gifted a painting titled '' Game Changer'' to a hospital in May 2020 as a tribute to National Health Service workers during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. It was later sold for £14.4m in March 2021 to benefit a number of NHS-related organisations and charities. In August 2020, it was revealed that Banksy had privately funded a
rescue boat A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inf ...
to save refugees at risk in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
. The former French Navy boat, renamed after Louise Michel, has been painted pink with an image of a young girl holding a heart-shaped safety float.


Criticism

Peter Gibson, a spokesman for
Keep Britain Tidy Keep Britain Tidy is a UK-based independent environmental charity. The organisation campaigns to reduce litter, improve local places and prevent waste. It has offices in Wigan and London. History Keep Britain Tidy was originally set up by a conf ...
, asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism. Another official for the same organisation stated: "We are concerned that Banksy's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism." Banksy has also been long criticised for copying the work of
Blek le Rat Blek le Rat (; born Xavier Prou, 1952) is a French graffiti artist. He was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti". Early life Xavier Prou was born on 15 November 1951 in Boulogne- ...
, who created the life-sized stencil technique in early 1980s Paris and used it to express a similar combination of political commentary and humorous imagery. Blek has praised Banksy for his contribution to urban art, but said in an interview for the documentary ''Graffiti Wars'' that some of Banksy's more derivative work makes him "angry", saying that "It's difficult to find a technique and style in art so when you have a style and you see someone else is taking it and reproducing it, you don't like that." Some have criticised the "obviousness" of Banksy's work and accused it of being "anarchy-lite" geared towards a middle class " hipster" audience. Much of this criticism came forward during his series of works in New York in 2013. Many New York street artists, such as
TrustoCorp TrustoCorp is an artist or a group of artists based in New York City that produce humorous street signs and product labels, which can be found in New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, and Miami. Internationally their signs have been seen in Ne ...
, criticised Banksy, and much of his work was defaced. In his column for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', satirist
Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
wrote that Banksy's "work looks dazzlingly clever to idiots." Banksy was accused of being "inconsistent with honest practices" when trying to trademark his image of a protester throwing a bouquet of flowers. The European Union trademark office threw out his trademark claim, "saying he had filed it in order to avoid using copyright laws, which are separate and would have required imto reveal his true identity. The ruling quoted from one of his books, in which he said 'copyright is for losers'."


Books

Banksy has published several books that contain photographs of his work accompanied by his own writings: * ''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'' (2001) * ''Existencilism'' (2002) * ''Cut It Out'' (2004) * ''Pictures of Walls'' (2005) * ''Wall and Piece'' (2007) ''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'', ''Existencilism'', and ''Cut It Out'' were a three-part self-published series of small booklets. ''Pictures of Walls'' is a compilation book of pictures of the work of other graffiti artists, curated and self-published by Banksy. None of them are still in print, or were ever printed in any significant number. Banksy's ''Wall and Piece'' compiled large parts of the images and writings in their original three-book series, with heavy editing and some new material. It was intended for mass print, and published by
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. The writings in their original three books had numerous grammatical errors, and his writings in them often took a dark, and angry, and a (self-described) paranoid tone. While the content in them was almost entirely kept in ''Wall and Piece'', the stories were edited and generally took a less provocative tone, and the grammatical errors were resolved (presumably to make it suitable for mass market distribution).


See also

*
List of urban artists A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* Street installation *
Brandalism Brandalism (a portmanteau of 'brand' and 'vandalism') is an anti-advertising movement. It is a form of creative activism that uses subvertising to alter and critique corporate advertising by creating parodies or spoofs to replace ads in public ar ...


References


Further reading

* * Steve Wright, ''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'', Tangent Books (2007), * Martin Bull
''Banksy Locations and Tours: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London''
(2006 – with new editions in 2007, 2008 and 2010), . * Ulrich Blanché, ''Something to s(pr)ay: Der Street Artivist Banksy. Eine kunstwissenschaftliche Untersuchung'' (2010), * Will Elsworth-Jones, ''Banksy, the Man behind the Wall'' (2012), . * Paul Gough, ''Banksy, the Bristol Legacy'' (2012), . * Gary Shove and Patrick Potter, ''You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat And If You Were Not You Would Know About It'' (2012, new edition in 2015)


External links

Official websites: *
Pest Control
nbsp;– Official Banksy authentication service and only current official dealer of original Banksy works
Banksy Instagram
nbsp;– Official Banksy Instagram page
Banksy YouTube Channel
 – Official Banksy YouTube channel Slideshows and galleries:


Banksy Images
nbsp;– from '' Flickr''
Banksy Gallery
nbsp;– by ''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
''
Banksy v Bristol Museum
nbsp;– slideshow by ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
''
Stencil Revolution About Banksy
News items
"Police thwart attempt to steal Bethlehem Banksy mural", Ma'an News Agency, April 21, 2015

Will-Ellsworth-Jones, "The Story Behind Banksy", ''The Smithsonian Magazine'', February 2013
{{Authority control Living people Anonymous artists 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters Artists from Bristol Culture jamming English activists English contemporary artists English film directors English satirists Guerilla artists Political artists Pseudonymous artists Street artists Anti-consumerists Year of birth missing (living people) Album-cover and concert-poster artists