Banksy
Posted under Art, |
Banksy is a graffiti artist from Bristol, UK, whose artwork has appeared throughout London and other locations around the world. Despite this he carefully manages to keep his real name from the mainstream media.
Banksy has created many street art and graffiti works expressing his thoughts on war and politics over the past few years that have caught the public's attention.
From Wikipedia:
"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. Bansky slowly started to get more and more prolific and notable after the millennium."
Banksy, despite not calling himself an artist, has been considered by some as talented in that respect; he uses his original street art form, often in combination with a distinctive stenciling technique, to promote alternative aspects of politics from those promoted by the mainstream media.
Banksy has also self-published several books that contain photos of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own subversive and often witty writings. His first book, published in black and white, is Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall followed by the full color Existencilism. In 2004 he published his third book, Cut it Out, and 2005 saw the publication by Random House of Wall and Piece.
Being Britain's most celebrated graffiti artist, anonymity is vital to him as graffiti is illegal. The day he goes public is the day his graffiti ends, but could it be the start of something new for Banksy? While we here at Motive don't want to encourage everyone to jump up and spray paint any empty wall they see, we do have to appreciate and acknowledge Banksy's voice and his power to bring awareness to anti-war issues.
