Banksy

In the previous post, I wrote that purposes of street art are to use art to make sense of and manipulate our environment. Street art helps to indicate problems of our society. I love art that helps us to think. It doesn’t matter what exactly about. Just think. About love, life, nature, anything else that matter in our life. And especially if it helps us to think about our problems and problems of the world. Because if we think about them, we’ve already made the first step to solve them.

Today I’m going to talk about the artist who makes us pay our attention to actual problems of our life. It’s Banksy. He is probably the most controversial street artist in the world. I think a lot of people at least once in their life have seen one of his works.

Banksy is an anonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist and film director of unverified identity. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. Banksy's works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world. There are many different versions about his real name. Robert or Robin Banks, or Robin Gunningham, or Robert Del Naja, or neither of them. Actually, it doesn’t matter that his real name is. 

He began spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol in the early 1990s. But in the 2000s, he expanded his work beyond Bristol and was soon leaving his artistic mark all over the world. He quickly became a well-known artist who sends political messages through his works. There are many discussions about his art. There are people who love what he does. But there are also people who think what his art is vandalism.

Maybe, controversy and actuality of his works make them so popular and expensive. Banksy's works also show a desire to mock centralized power, hoping that his works will show the public that although power does exist and works against you, that power is not terribly efficient and it can and should be deceived. Banksy's works have dealt with various political and social themes, including anti-war, anti-consumerism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism.

The Time magazine selected Banksy for its list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010. In 2010, Banksy participated in The Berlin International Film Festival with his movie “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. In 2011, this movie was nominated for the Oscar in category “Best Documentary Feature”.