Banksy Art Gallery

To celebrate the final post of this Banksy Street Art Blog, I give you a gallery featuring some of my favourite pieces by the man himself. Without further ado, I present Banksy Street Art!

Banksy mural stolen and auctioned off in the US!

Stolen Banksy Mural

A mural made by Banksy on a wall in England was recently stolen. You may ask "how do you steal a mural off of a wall?" By taking the entire wall with you…

That is how you steal a mural off a wall...

This is actually pretty common for Banksy art. People steal his murals and 3D art installations quite often. In 2010 two pieces where stolen from a gallery window when the thief used a street sign to smash it open. The mural "Sperm Alarm" was also similarly lifted from a wall then sold on ebay for  £17,000. What is uncommon is how quickly it came up for auction and where it was being auctioned off.

The piece was found at the US auction in Miami, Fine Art Auctions, for £320,000 - £452,000. How some one stole an entire chunk of wall off the side of the building in England and boarded an airplane with it, dragging it all the way back to the states, is beyond me.

Residents of the building were very upset about the theft, stating that they felt that Banksy had given that piece to the community and that people often came from all over london to see it. They are petitioning the auction company to cancel the listing.

Graffiti Wars

Street Art is a very competitive art form, with artists competing for space and attention. Banksy isn't one to shy away from a little competition as evident from the following video, Graffiti Wars.

Graffiti Wars

Graffiti Wars, Robbo vs Banksy, is an art documentary focusing on a rivalry between well known street artists Banksy and Robbo. Both have drastically different styles and opinions. The documentary goes rather in-depth on both artists careers, featuring rare footage of the mysterious artists. It is very interesting and informative, while a bit bias toward Robbo. This is understanding as Banksy accidentally started the "war" and refused to appear in the video.

Banksy vs Robbo

Who is Banksy?

Banksy is a nickname used by a talented graffiti artist and political activist from England. His real name is unknown yet his popularity and critical reception is immense.

His work is prominent in the streets of Bristol, England where he became an intrinsic part of the "Bristol underground scene", a culture of Trip-Hop, Drum & Bass, and Graffiti that emerged in the early 90's. Banksy's street art is often satirical, combining dark humour and political and social commentary. He often uses stencil heavy designs to portray his visual critiques of government and politics.

Many assume that Banksy's main inspiration was an early graffiti stencil artist known as Blek le Rat, but according to Banksy this is not the case. Banksy's main inspiration is said to be an artist from "Massive Attack" known as 3D. Banksy does not sell his art, but it has been known to be auctioned off by third parties. In 2007 the piece "Space Girl & Bird" was auctioned off for a massive $576,000 USD.

Space Girl & Bird

Over the years his fan base has grown exponentially. With the increase of his popularity came praise and criticism. In 2010 Banksy showed his first film "Exit through the Gift Shop" at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was nominated in 2011 for the Academy for Best Documentary. He has also won the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Best First Feature, Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature, and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association award for Best Documentary Film in 2010.

On the other side of the critic coin we have those who believe his work is nothing but "simple vandalism". The "Keep Britain Tidy" organization do not appreciate Banksy's art stating that it glorifies vandalism. Satirist Charlie Brooker of "The Guardian" even went as far as to say that Banksy's work "looks dazzlingly clever to idiots", winning him no regard from the millions of people involved in the culture of graffiti art.

Weither he is winning prestigious awards or getting insulted by the media, Banksy's art tends to bring out strong emotions from its viewers. Be it a humorous tounge-in-cheek jab at modern society or a powerful visual attack on corrupt government and politics, Banksy's Street Art is always memorable, thought invoking, and above all else, entertaining.

Banksy Wall and Piece (Book)

Welcome

Welcome to the Banksy Street Art blog!

Coming soon: Articles and images of the latest street art from well known artist Banksy.