Banksy
From CT4CT: Creative Tools for Critical Times
Banksy is a well-known semi-anonymous British graffiti artist. He is believed to be a native of Yate, South Gloucestershire, near Bristol and to have been born in 1974 but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and personal and biographical details.
According to the Mail Online:
He is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. Always controversial, he inspires admiration and provokes outrage in equal measure. Since Banksy made his name with his trademark stencil-style 'guerrilla' art in public spaces - on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians - his works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. He has dozens of celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. He is also known for his headline-making stunts, such as leaving an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland, California, and hanging a version of the Mona Lisa - but with a smiley face - in the Louvre, Paris. But perhaps his most provocative statement, and the one that generates the most publicity, is the fact that Banksy's true identity has always been a jealously guarded secret, known to only a handful of trusted friends. A network of myths has grown up around him. That his real name is Robin Banks. That he used to be a butcher. That his parents don't know what he does, believing him to be an unusually successful painter and decorator. Then there's the suggestion that Banksy is actually a collective of artists and doesn't exist at all.
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Artistic Projects
One Nation Under CCTV
Banksy's One Nation Under CCTV (2008) is a guerilla artwork painted on a wall above a Post Office yard in central London, UK. It includes the slogan "One Nation Under CCTV," in stark white capitals printed above the figure of a police officer with a dog filming the scene. It is a direct critique of the increasing amounts of surveillance employed by officials in the United Kingdom. The artwork is made more impressive by its size (several stories high) and the fact that it was created in an area that is under the surveillance of a real CCTV (Closed-circuit Television) camera.
According to the Mail Online:
Banksy pulled off an audacious stunt to produce what is believed to be his biggest work yet in central London. The secretive graffiti artist managed to erect three storeys of scaffolding behind a security fence despite being watched by a CCTV camera. Then, during darkness and hidden behind a sheet of polythene, he painted this comment on 'Big Brother' society.
See also:
- Banksy
- Mail Online: Graffiti artist Banksy pulls off most audacious stunt to date - despite being watched by CCTV
- Telegraph: Banksy pulls off daring CCTV protest in London
Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill
Banksy's Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill (2008) is a mock pet supply shop, filled with animatronic creatures like a rhesus monkey and would-be creatures like fish sticks swimming in a tank.
According to Banksy:
I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing.
See also:
- Babelgum: Banksy's Animatronic Pet Store
- Independent: Banksy becomes a pet shop boy in New York
- New York Times: Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip
- NOTCOT: Banksy's Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill
- Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill
