The most famous Street Art Artist in the World
Banksy is a mystery. Banksy is political. Banksy has revolutionized the street art scene. Yet to the turn of the millennium he was a widely unknown artist who sprayed his stencil images in the UK, Israel, Mexico and in the United States on walls. Who is behind this artist who gets very much hyped on the art market, but who actually abhors it?
Banksy became famous for his politically-subversive images. He always uses guerrilla communication to provide an alternative perspective on political and economic issues. In the meantime he also prefers to accept orders for charitable purposes, for example for Greenpeace. Or he designs CD covers as in 2003 for the band Blur.
Banksy simply develops what other do not dare. For instance, his artworks are repeatedly exhibited in museums. Back in 2005, his artworks hung in Tate Modern, MoMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, American Museum of Natural History or even in the Louvre in Paris without asking him. In the British Museum once his version of a cave painting was found. This showed a hunting human being with a shopping trolley. Although Banksy fundamentally declines commercial art, his artworks have been increasingly displayed in galleries and exhibitions since 2000. In doing so he never forgot street painting. Hardly noticed at that time, in Hamburg for example one put his spray works under plexiglass in order to protect them from destruction. Nevertheless, the work "Bomb Hugger" was destroyed in 2015 by unknown. His latest art coup succeeded him in the summer of 2015. He transformed the former water park "Tropicana" in the English resort "Weston-super-Mare" for five weeks to the theme park "Dismaland". The message is actually already clear – Disneyland was parodied. "Dismal" stands for "oppressive, bleak, bleak", and Banksy himself described the exhibition as "family theme park, which is unsuitable for children." Among other things a butcher in the horse carousel, a woman attacked by birds or a distorted Arielle, the mermaid, were shown.
Banksy`s identity still remains unclear. There are many speculations about it. For example, some suspect that his real name is Rob, Robin or Robert Banks. Some assume that Banksy is Robin Gunningham, born in Bristol on July 28th, 1973. This person submerged since around 2000 and had contact with many people who knew Banksy. And others again assume that Banksy is an artist collective, decisively organized by one or more women. This assumption came up since female figures played an important role at Banksy´s street art from the beginning.
