I remember sitting going through some rather stale and over rated websites, randomly browsing to pass off time. This was about four years ago or so, when I stumbled upon a rather provocative image of a man stanced to throw a Molotov cocktail. However, in place of the home made explosive in his hand was a bunch of flowers, and I thought to myself, my word, this is by far the most brilliant piece of art I have seen in ages. I started poking and digging around looking for the name of this particular artist, and I managed to find out that the art called “Flower Chucker” was done by a British bloke called Banksy. Little did I know then that I had finally discovered my idol and inspiration who would throw me into the depths of graffiti art and eventually venture into the fashion industry.

 

“The Flower Chucker” by Banksy

“All Artists Are Prepared To Suffer For Their Work, But Very Few Of Them Learn To Draw”

Graffiti in it’s own right has been around for ages, and so was the stencil technique, but never have I seen it used so purposefully and masterfully before. Banksy, of whom some believe is the shortened name of Robert Banks, has been claimed by some to hail from Bristol in England. He was previously involved in graffiti tagging in the late Nineties, but then quickly realized that graffiti, although beautiful, could sometimes take hours to complete, thus making the danger of being discovered or attracting authorities painfully high. He seeked a way to cut short the time spent on a design, and in his book, he stated that one day, while hiding from the cops under a train, he saw some words ’stenciled’ onto the bottom of the carriage, and realized that he found his solution.

Kissing Cops

“Designated Graffiti Area”

A Banksy stenciled art is rather easily recognizable: he has a distinctive style, which normally requires a two or three layered stencil with fine linings and a lot of attention to details. He usually uses striking, familiar images or iconic figures, edits the image and adds either an element of dark humor or an utterly controversial replacement image. His direct message usually centers around anti-war, anti-advertising anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or pro-freedom.

What Are You Looking At?

Banksy had various forms & ways to display his art. He started out hitting the walls with his images, & soon his designs got larger and larger. He was also known to sneak into museums & art galleries to add his own work to their collection, usually funny musings with it’s own original message. It’s stuff that the common eye would not recognize instantly, and usually needs a second glance. For example, he hung a “prehistoric stone” with paintings on it, but if you look closely, the painting displays a warrior trying to spear a shopping cart. Funny, witty, original and just downright clever.

In 2006, Banksy achieved stardom by holding an exhibition called Barely Legal in Las Angeles, where attendees are rumored to include the likes of Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie [ a big fan, apparently], Kate Moss & Christina Aguilera. His artworks are sold from anywhere between $5,000 to an astounding figure of $288,000, the highest ever recorded by the art gallery Sotherby’s. Not bad at all for someone who was expelled from school at the tender age of nine.

Banksy’s art can be found in various countries, from England, to Spain, Palestine, Germany, and of course the United States. There’s quite a funny story in his book about an incident in Palestine, and it goes something like this:

Guide: You can paint here, there are no guards in the watch towers, they do not come until winter.

Banksy: Return’s to car after 25 mins, and asks “What’s so funny?”

Guide: [Laughing hysterically] Of course there are guards in the towers, with their walkie-talkies and sniper rifles!

Artwork done in Palestine: Wall of Seperation

“Mindless Vandalism Can Take A Bit Of Thought”

These days, there’s a big debate about Banksy, with one group claiming that he has sold out, copped out and has lost his soul, while another group praises his endurance, creativity and believes that all the money he earns is justifiable because of all the effort he puts in each of his artwork.

So where do I stand? I believe that his work is so good, so revolutionary, so inspiring, that he has become a global icon amongst not just the graffiti society but has flowed into and amongst the contemporary art circles, thus rendering his work somewhat commercialized. It can’t really be helped, his work is just that good. He has reached the highest pinnacle, amongst the likes of Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Pietro Psaier, and could go even higher. He is already part of history, and whether he approves of it or not, he will be in the art books of the future. More importantly, he has set a very high standard for us artists and wannabe’s, and has opened new paths for us. People will take us more seriously, people recognize that in fact a lot of thought, time & patience is put into each design & we in turn become better if we seek to out do the standards which he has set. I strongly believe that he still does what he does out of love, multi millionaire or not. In the end, he is still as anonymous as he was five years ago, his art is as it was five years ago, and his philosophies are still the same. Love him or loathe him, you have to recognize the sheer brilliance and simplicity in each of his pieces. In any case, most likely he would not really care what we think. In a world where people are doing everything to become rich & famous, he is a breath of fresh air, because, up till this very day, he chooses to remain an anonymous entity.

 

Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place- Banksy

Website: http://www.banksy.co.uk