People say that graffiti is irresponsible and childish….but only if it is done properly and Banksy does just that.  There is still uncertainty about the identity of Banksy.  All we know is that he was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, London.  He trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great aerosol boom of late 1980s.  His artworks are often illustrations that depict political, cultural and ethical views.  His street art, which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique has appeared in London and in cities around the world.   

In 2004 Banksy produced a quantity of spoofed £10 British notes substituting the Queens head with Princess Diana’s and replacing the “Bank of England” with “Banksy of England.”  During that year at the Notting Hill festival, a bunch of these notes were thrown into the crowd.  Some people tried spending the £10 at local shops not knowing that a few months later they were being sold on ebay for £200 each.  A Limited run of 50 signed posters containing 10 uncut notes were also produced and sold by pictures on walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in May 2007 on eBay for £17,500.

Banksy cashed in when his work sold for way over the estimated price. He received over £102,000 for his Bombing Middle England, £37,200 for Balloon Girl, £31,200 for Bomb, Ballerina With Action Man Parts reached £96,000, Glory sold for £72,000 and an unnamed sold for £33,600. Following this 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.” The record for any Banksy work was set in April 2007 when Space Girl and Bird fetched £288,000.

Banksy’s work has been admired by many art enthusiast around the world including celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The couple brought a piece, which features the dethroned king of pop standing in the doorway of a cottage trying to coax a young boy and girl into his house with sweets. The piece is inspired by the classic fairytale Hansel and Gretel, and is apparently a reference to the child abuse scandal surrounding Jackson last year.

To top of the datscool list. In 2004, Bansky walked into the Louvre in Paris and hung on a wall a picture he had painted resembling the Mona Lisa, but with a yellow smiley face akin to the Wal-Mart character for a face. Though the painting was hurriedly removed by the museum staff, it and it’s counterpart, temporarily on unknown display at the Tate Britain, were described by Banksy as ’shortcuts’. He is quoted as saying: “To actually [have to] go through the process of having a painting selected must be quite boring, It’s a lot more fun to go and put your own one up.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 5:28 pm and is filed under The Arts.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.