The secretive English street artist Banksy may not be anonymous for much longer. His profile is becoming much more visible,with his work being sold for five and six figures at auction to celebrity buyers like Angelina Jolie. It was recently rumoured that Banksy had been commissioned by Guy Ritchie to do a piece for his wife Madonna's recent 50th birthday. In addition to his A-list fans, the guerilla street artist's work has turned up on the walls of New Orleans for the recent anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Has Banksy Sold Out?
The question has been asked whether Banksy's work is still relevant. He's been seeking out higher-profile venues both for his street art and by doing proper arts exhibits - instead of his guerilla installations at the Louvre, British Museum and Tate Modern - and if the rumour is true, making exclusive art for whomever can pay for it. Not to mention his sabotage of Paris Hilton's debut CD - commenting on the fame of others is certainly an invitation to comment on your own.
In early 2008, one of his pieces - a silkscreen of Andy Warhol's famed Marilyn Monroe but with Kate Moss' face - sold at auction for €96,000 while another of his pieces - a stencil of a monkey wearing a sandwich board that reads "Laugh now, one day we'll be in charge." – sold for €228,000.
Less than three years ago, not many outside of Bristol and certain neighbourhoods in London knew of Banksy or would be able to identify his graf stencils. His work would go up in 20 minutes or less and then be washed away or painted over a day or three later. That all still happens, of course, though he surely has had to become faster with his stencils and put more planning into executing them.
Increasingly his pieces become an attraction and city officials will often do what they can to preserve and protect them, initially from vandalism and now more and more, from theft (pieces have shown up on eBay). His famous piece of two bobbys kissing, painted on a wall in Brighton, has been covered with a clear plastic sheet for protection. Another recent piece, of a naked man hanging by one hand out of a window while his lover's husband/boyfriend peers out the window for him, was painted on the wall of sex clinic in Bristol. After pressure from the public, the city council chose to leave it.
Banksy Unmasked?
Banksy has kept his identity tightly under wraps. He is of course, wanted for vandalism and "street terrorism" so it's understandable. He is also a celebrity, albeit a faceless, psuedonymous celebrity and in being so elusive, his status as an icon has increased. As he said himself in his book Wall and Piece, "Nobody ever listened to me until they didn't know who I was."
Banksy is difficult to track down, and although he has an agent and works with publishers and galleries, and has given interviews, no one has yet exposed him. Nor has he been captured in the act. Or at least he has said he will never confirm or deny his identity, so even if any of the many reports of his being exposed are true, nothing is to be believed.
Reports as recent as November 2007 and summer 2008 circulated saying that Banksy had been captured on film. But like the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot, fans feel that Banksy's identity is better left as a mystery.
Banksy: The New Andy Warhol?Like Warhol, Banksy represents his time and has even been accredited with changing the general perception of his generation - that young people don't care about the world around them. What he is trying to acheive is made clear in his manifestos (found on his website), in his books (Wall and Piece being the most recent) and most clearly, with his art.
 |
 |
