Banksy is the pseudonym of well-known English graffiti artist from Bristol. His artwork are often satirical pieces of art which encompass topics from politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique, has appeared in London and in cities around the world.

Banksy started as a freehand graffiti artist then turned to the art of stencilling because it took less time to complete a 'piece'. He claims he changed to stencilling whilst he was hiding from the police under a train carriage, and soon became noticed for his art.

Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or pro-freedom. Subjects include animals such as monkeys and rats, policemen, soldiers, children and the elderly. He also makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and sculpture (the murdered phonebox), and was responsible for the cover art of Blur's 2003 album Think Tank.

He has moved on to producing subverted paintings; one example is Monet's Water Lily Pond, adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a shopping trolley floating in its reflective waters, another is Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, redrawn to show that the characters are looking at an English football hooligan dressed only in his Union Flag underpants, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the cafe. These oil paintings were exhibited at a twelve day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005.

In August/September 2006, Banksy replaced up to 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut cd, Paris, in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by Danger Mouse. 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. The cover art depicted Paris Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with a dog's head replacing her own, & 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"

Despite much speculation, Banksy's true identity remains unknown. Simon Hattenstone from Guardian Unlimited is one of the very few people to have interviewed him face-to-face. Hattenstone describes him as "a cross of Jimmy Nail and British rapper Mike Skinner" and "a 28 year old male who showed up wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a silver tooth, silver chain, and one silver earring".

Source

A Few Pieces

Banksy Website
Free Banksy Art
Wall & Piece (Book)