Banksy

One of the best kept secrets in contemporary culture, Banksy has made a name for himself in both mainstream media and in the art world. Breaking onto the scene in the 1990’s, Banksy’s art is characterised by its original wit and its satire of capitalist authority. Predominantly working in stencil art and screenprint, Bansky’s cartoon style is probing and provocative. With over 10 million Instagram followers and public art spanning from Bristol to Bethlehem, Banksy is one of the biggest phenomena in the recent history of art.

BANKSY’S RISE TO FAME

Bansky’s art was first seen adorning the walls of buildings in his hometown, Bristol as one of the DryBreadZ Crew alongside fellow graffiti artists Kato and Tes. By 2000, Banksy had started stencilling, and his street art began to gain notoriety in both Bristol and London. Most of Banksy’s stencils, public artworks and prints convey anti-establishment and anti-war messaging and explore innocence and corruption with subjects that range from policemen and children to rats and apes.

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS

One of Banksy’s most famous works is his Girl with Balloon series that started in 2002, first appearing on Waterloo Bridge and then making its way around London. Since then, other celebrated work includes, Gorilla in a Pink Mask, Kissing Coppers and most recently If You Don’t Mask, You Don’t Get; an installation piece on a tube carriage on the London Underground. As well as Banksy’s public works, he has also shown work in Tate Modern, Louvre, The British Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Ever political, in 2017 Banksy opened his hotel, The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, sitting opposite the wall that separates Israel and the Palestinian territories.

BANKSY'S SHREDDED GIRL WITH BALLOON: MAKING AUCTION HISTORY

One of Banksy's most recent provocative stunts happened at a Sotheby's auction in 2018, when Banksy sold one of the famous prints of Girl with Ballon for $1.4 million and half of the work was immediately shredded by a dispositive inside the frame.

As we know, Girl with Ballon is one of Banksy's most acclaimed work, first appearing on Waterloo Bridge, and now the subject of many works on printed paper, like the one that was shredded during the auction. The new painting was called Love is in the Bin and sold again in 2021, this time for almost 20 millions of dollars.

Carrying a powerful message on the ephemerality of art and our consumption of art in a capitalistic setting, this stunt of Banksy is particularly interesting because it is so mysterious, just like Banksy's character who is completely anonymous, besides the fact we know he was or is Bristol-based. To this day, we are not sure if the auction house nor Banksy's publicity team was actually aware of the stunt that was going to be performed.

WHEN MONET INSPIRES STREET ART: SHOW ME THE MONET

Avid art lovers will know that Banksy once parodied Monet's Japanese Gardens in a new piece called Show Me The Monet. The framed oil on canvas represents the japanese gardens painted originally by Monet with a traffic cone and a shopping trolley drowning in the water. This artwork was particularly significant in Banksy's career as it was one of the paintings exhibited at his Crude Oils showing in London in 2005, amongst other oil paintings by the artist.

This beautiful oil on canvas is a clever and charged complex reflection on the landscape genre and how it has been affected by pollution and capitalism. These themes, as we know, are particularly dear to Banksy's artworks, and inspire his practice. Although it can be seen as a humorous take on an iconic painting by Claude Monet, there is no doubt Banksy is still denouncing the shortcomings of our modern society and how it impacts the way we create art.

BANKSY ON RISE ART

Discover limited edition prints and drawings signed by Banksy on Rise Art. You will find works with Banksy's signature style, but also prints inspired by other artists such as Soup Cans, which is clearly inspired by Andy Warhol's famous pop art painting Campbell's Soup Cans.

Browse our collection dedicated to street art as well as our pop art collection to discover more artists inspired by artist giants such as Andy Warhol. We would recommend also taking an interest in Patrick Cornée's art if you are passionate about Warhol and Banksy's style, as he creates a lot of his work with their stylistic identity in mind, making beautiful original street art and pop art artworks representing pop culture figures such as Mario, Barbie, and more.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BANKSY

If you wish to discover more information about Banksy and Street Art, we have many articles on our website showcasing his work and talking in depth about his practice.

In our article 10 Must-See Street Art Works, we discuss the famous Girl with Balloon on Waterloo Bridge in South Bank along with other Street Art artworks from artists such as Invader and Keith Haring, as well as the places you can find them !

For those who want a more focused look at Banksy's works, we have an article focusing on Rage, the Flower Thrower, one of Banksy's most famous artworks, painted in 2003 in the streets of Jerusalem as a sign of protest. Cécile Martet takes a closer look at important details on this well-known artwork, and makes you discover hidden meanings in this Street Art legend for its political significance.

Finally, we also advise you to read our Guide to Street Art, which will give you a broad view of the history of Street Art as well as its definition and introduce you to some of the most significant artists of this movement, such as Banksy for example.

If you are interested in knowing more about Banksy exhibitions and events, we invite you to subscribe to his page, as well as keep an eye out for our monthly newsletter.