Banksy

Banksy has become Britain’s most infamous young artist. Originally from Bristol, he has taken his provocative and inspiring brand of vandalism to sites world-wide, from the Sydney Opera House to Cuba. A media favourite for stunts like hanging his own work in the Tate gallery, but a popular star long before any of this high-profile activity – simply because the people love his stuff.

Banksy has not only brought UK graphic art to an international audience but has proven, through his emotional and provocative work, that his generation are not the apathetic and unfeeling demographic they are made out to be.

Banksy’s satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.

Banksy art was born of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. According to author and graphic designer Tristan Manco and the book Home Sweet Home, Banksy “was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier technician, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.” Observers have noted that his style is similar to Blek le Rat who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris and Jef Aerosol who sprayed his first street stencil in 1982 in Tours (France), and members of the anarcho-punk band Crass, which maintained a graffiti stencil campaign on the London Tube System in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  However Banksy himself stated on his website that in all actuality he based his work on that of 3D from Massive Attack, stating, “No, I copied 3D from Massive Attack. He can actually draw.”

Unique Banksy Art

Perhaps his most widely recognized artwork is Girl With The Red Balloon.