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{{Infobox artist
| image =
| caption = <!-- The cover of Banksy's 2005 compilation,<br /> ''Wall and Piece''.-->
| name = Banksy
| birth_name = Real name: unknown<!-- Do not add without clear confirmation, read the article for past speculations on his name -->
| birth_date = Date of birth: unknown
| birth_place = Birthplace: unknown
| field = [[Graffiti]]<br /> [[Street art]]<br /> [[Bristol underground scene]]<br /> Sculpture<br /> Satire<br /> [[Social commentary]]
| training =
| awards = [[Toronto Film Critics Association Awards]] – Best First Feature 2010<br /> [[Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature]] <br /> [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association]] – Best Documentary Film 2010
}}
'''Banksy''' is a [[pseudonym]]ous English [[Street artist|graffiti artist]], political activist, film director, and painter.
His [[satirical]] [[street art]] and subversive [[epigrams]] combine [[dark humour]] with [[graffiti]] executed in a distinctive [[Stencil graffiti|stencilling]] technique. His works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.<ref>[http://weburbanist.com/2007/07/19/banksy-paradox-unofficial-guide-to-the-worlds-most-infamous-urban-guerilla-street-artist/ "The Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides to the World's Most Infamous Street Artist], 19 July 2007</ref>
Banksy's work grew out of the [[Bristol underground scene]], which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.<ref name="tel_banksy">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html|title=Banksy: off the wall – Telegraph|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |publisher=Telegraph Media Group|date=28 March 2008|accessdate=24 June 2009|last=Baker|first=Lindsay}}</ref> Observers have noted that his style is similar to [[Blek le Rat]], who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4066727.ece |location=London |work=The Times | first=Waldemar | last=Januszczak | title=Blek le Rat the man who gave birth to Banksy | date=8 June 2008}}</ref><ref name=Coan>{{cite news| url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/blek-le-rat-this-is-not-a-banksy-811130.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=Blek le Rat: This is not a Banksy |date=19 April 2008}}</ref> Banksy says that he was inspired by [[Robert Del Naja|"3D"]], a graffiti artist who later became a founding member of [[Massive Attack]], an English musical group.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20120103163406/http://www.banksy.co.uk/QA/qaa.html|archivedate=3 January 2012|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/QA/qaa.html|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=3 August 2013}} Statement does not appear in current URL, only archived URL.</ref>
Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy does not sell photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290|title=Banksy fans fail to bite at street art auction|work=meeja.com.au|date=30 September 2008|accessdate=30 September 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081016145044/http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290| archivedate= 16 October 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy's first film, ''[[Exit Through the Gift Shop]]'', billed as "the world's first street art [[disaster film|disaster movie]]", made its debut at the 2010 [[Sundance Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8471145.stm |title=Banksy film to debut at Sundance |work=BBC News |date=21 January 2010|accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> The film was released in the UK on 5 March 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kay|first=Jeremy|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/revolver-sets-march-5-uk-release-for-banksy-documentary/5010063.article |title=Revolver sets March 5 UK release for Banksy documentary , News , Screen|work=creendaily.com|date=26 January 2010|accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> In January 2011, he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary]] for the film. In 2014, he was awarded Person of the Year at the [[2014 Webby Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webbyawards.com/winners/2014/special-achievement/webby-person-of-the-year/banksy|title=2014 Webby Awards Person of the Year |publisher=Webbyawards.com |date= |accessdate=2014-05-30}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Early career (1992–2001) ===
Banksy began as a freehand graffiti artist in 1990–1994<ref name="WrightHome32">{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Steve |author2=Richard Jones |author3=Trevor Wyatt|title=Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home |publisher=Tangent Books |location=Bath |date=28 November 2007 |page=32 |isbn=978-1-906477-00-4}}</ref> as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with Kato and Tes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graffiti.org/dj/n-igma3/uk1.html|title=N-Igma fanzine showing examples of DBZ Graffiti tagged by Banksy, Kato and Tes|date=April 1999}}</ref> He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger [[Bristol underground scene]] with [[Nick Walker (artist)|Nick Walker]], [[Inkie]] and [[Robert Del Naja|3D]].<ref name="bbc street art show comes to Bristol">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_7879000/7879064.stm | title=Street art show comes to Bristol |work=BBC News | date=9 February 2009 | accessdate=31 August 2011 | quote=Street art [...] erupted in the UK in the early 1980s [...] active on the Bristol scene at that time included Banksy, Nick Walker, Inkie and Robert del Naja, or '3D', of Massive Attack.}}</ref><ref name="sky banksy art auctions">{{cite news | url=http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/1304043 | title=Banksy Hits Out at Street Art Auctions | work=[[Sky News]] | date=6 February 2008 | accessdate=31 August 2011 | author=Reid, Julia | location=London | quote=Along with Banksy, Bristol's graffiti heritage includes 3D, who went on to form Massive Attack, Inkie, and one of the original stencil artists Nick Walker.}}</ref> During this time he met Bristol photographer [[Steve Lazarides]], who began selling Banksy's work, later becoming his agent.<ref name="FT urban renewal">{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2e9b2d04-2a62-11e0-804a-00144feab49a.html#axzz2jiwdyr7H | title=Urban Renewal: Steve Lazarides continues to expand his street art empire | work=[[Financial Times]] | date=28 January 2011 | accessdate=4 November 2013 | author=Child, Andrew | location=London | quote=He had discovered Banksy on a chance photo shoot in Bristol in 2001 while working as picture editor of Sleaze Nation magazine, and brought him to public attention along with a roster of other urban artists... Lazarides and Banksy parted company in 2009, a mysterious split about which both parties have remained tight-lipped.}}</ref> From the start Banksy used stencils as elements of his freehand pieces, too.<ref name="WrightHome32" /> By 2000 he had turned to the art of [[stencil]]ling after realising how much less time it took to complete a work. He claims he changed to stencilling while he was hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number<ref name="wallandpiece">{{cite book |last=Banksy |title=Wall and Piece |publisher=[[Random House]] |url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |accessdate=19 September 2006 |year=2005| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060928183419/http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/| archivedate= 28 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London.<ref name="wallandpiece" /> He played football with the [[Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls]] in the 1990s and toured with the club to Mexico in 2001.<ref name="bbc onyangaomara 2012">{{cite news|last=Onyanga-Omara|first=Jane|title=Banksy in goal: The story of the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-19410566|accessdate=14 September 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=14 September 2012}}</ref> Banksy's first known large wall mural was "The Mild Mild West" painted in 1997 to cover advertising of a former solicitors' office on Stokes Croft Avenue, Bristol. It depicts a [[teddy bear]] lobbing a [[Molotov cocktail]] at three [[riot police]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/gallery/photo/mild-mild-west-banksy |title=Banksy's mild mild west piece, Stokes Croft, Bristol |publisher=Bristol-street-art.co.uk |date=2008-11-27 |accessdate=2014-04-30}}</ref>
[[File:Banksy.on.the.thekla.arp.jpg|thumb|right|Stencil on the waterline of [[Old Profanity Showboat (Thekla)|The Thekla]], an entertainment boat in central [[Bristol]] – ([[:File:Thekla.in.bristol.arp.jpg|wider view]]). The image of [[Death (personification)|Death]] is based on a nineteenth-century etching illustrating the [[Infectious disease|pestilence]] of [[Great Stink|The Great Stink]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/social_conditions/victorian_urban_planning_01.shtml |title=London's 'Great Stink' and Victorian Urban Planning |first=Martin |last=Daunton |work=BBC News |date=4 November 2004|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090105192054/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/social_conditions/victorian_urban_planning_01.shtml| archivedate= 5 January 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>]]
Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. Subjects often include [[rat]]s, [[ape]]s, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.
In July 2011 one of Banksy's early works, ''Gorilla in a Pink Mask'', which had been a prominent landmark on the exterior wall of a former social club in [[Eastville, Bristol|Eastville]] for over ten years, was unwittingly painted over after the premises became a Muslim cultural centre.<ref>{{cite news|title=Whitewashed Banksy restoration 'could cost thousands'|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547|accessdate=15 July 2011|newspaper=BBC|date=15 July 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110720081140/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547| archivedate= 20 July 2011 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bates|first=Stephen|title=Banksy's Gorilla in a Pink Mask is painted over|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over|accessdate=15 July 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 July 2011|location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110716223702/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over| archivedate= 16 July 2011 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
=== Exhibitions (2002–2003) ===
On 19 June 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles exhibition debuted at 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, a tiny Silver Lake venue owned by Frank Sosa. The exhibition, entitled ''Existencilism'', was curated by 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, Malathion LA's Chris Vargas, Funk Lazy Promotions' Grace Jehan, and B+.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm |title=Banksy Existencilism Book |work=Art of the State|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090204070348/http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm| archivedate= 4 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
In 2003, at an exhibition called ''Turf War'', held in a London warehouse, Banksy painted on animals. At the time he gave one of his very few interviews, to the BBC's [[Nigel Wrench]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Banksy's Bristol|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/05/27/banksy_interviews_feature.shtml|website=BBC Bristol|publisher=BBC|accessdate=11 March 2015}}</ref> Although the [[RSPCA]] declared the conditions suitable, an animal rights activist chained herself to the railings in protest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm |title=Animals sprayed by graffiti artist |work=BBC News |date=18 July 2003 |accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061005173441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm| archivedate= 5 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> An example of his [[Subversion (politics)|subverted]] paintings is [[Monet]]'s ''Water Lily Pond'', adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a [[shopping trolley]] floating in its reflective waters; another is [[Edward Hopper]]'s ''[[Nighthawks]]'', redrawn to show that the characters are looking at a British football hooligan, dressed only in his [[Union Flag]] underpants, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the cafe. These oil paintings were shown at a twelve-day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/banksy_show_tonight_in_london.html |title = Banksy Show Tonight in London |date = 13 October 2005 |accessdate =19 September 2006}}</ref>
[[File:banksy-art.jpg|thumb|Banksy art in [[Brick Lane]], [[East End]], 2004.]]
Banksy, along with [[Shepard Fairey]], Dmote and others created work at a warehouse exhibition in Alexandria, Sydney for Semi-Permanent in 2003. Approximately 1,500 people attended.
=== £10 notes to ''Barely Legal'' (2004–2006) ===
In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of the Queen's head with [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]'s head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at Notting Hill Carnival that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops. These notes were also given with invitations to a Santa's Ghetto exhibition by Pictures on Walls. The individual notes have since been selling on [[eBay]] for about £200 each. A wad of the notes were also thrown over a fence and into the crowd near the NME signing tent at The Reading Festival. A limited run of 50 signed posters containing ten uncut notes were also produced and sold by Pictures on Walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in October 2007 at [[Bonhams]] auction house in London for £24,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy print donated to Bristol arts venue, The Cube|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-24701608|agency=BBC|date=20 May 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Banksy Hitchhiker to Anywhere Archway 2005.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A stencil of [[Charles Manson]] in a prison suit, hitchhiking to anywhere, [[Archway, London]]]]
In August 2005, Banksy, on a trip to the Palestinian territories, created nine images on the [[Israeli West Bank barrier|Israeli West Bank wall]].<ref name="JonesIsrael">{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Jones |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1543171,00.html |title=Spray can prankster tackles Israel's security barrier |date=5 August 2005 |work=The Guardian |location=London |accessdate=19 September 2006 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061004133921/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1543171,00.html| archivedate= 4 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
Banksy held an exhibition called ''Barely Legal'', billed as a "three-day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles, on the weekend of 16 September 2006. The exhibition featured a live "[[elephant in the room|elephant in a room]]," painted in a pink and gold floral wallpaper pattern, which, according to leaflets handed out at the exhibition, was intended to draw attention to the issue of world poverty. Although the Animal Services Department had issued a permit for the elephant, after complaints from [[animal rights]] activists, the elephant appeared unpainted on the final day. Its owners rejected claims of mistreatment and said that the elephant had done "many, many movies. She's used to makeup."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/sep/18/arts.artsnews |title=Banksy's painted elephant is illegal, say officials |author=Oliver, Mark |date=18 September 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |accessdate=20 April 2011 }}</ref> Banksy also made artwork displaying Queen Victoria as a lesbian and satirical pieces that incorporated art made by Andy Warhol and Leonardo da Vinci.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm | title='Guerrilla artist' Banksy hits LA |publisher=BBC News | date=14 September 2006 | accessdate=19 September 2006 | first=Peter | last=Bowes}}</ref>
=== The Banksy effect (2006–2007) ===
{{Quote box
| quote = "There are crimes that become innocent and even glorious through their splendour, number and excess."
| source = Banksy<ref name = "HPBanksy">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/banksy-graffiti-book_n_1827644.html?view=print&comm_ref=false Banksy Graffiti: A Book About The Thinking Street Artist] by ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', 30 August 2012</ref>
| width = 25%
| align = right
}}
After [[Christina Aguilera]] bought an original of [[Queen Victoria]] as a lesbian and two prints for £25,000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece|title=Aguilera invests £25,000 in Banksy |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=6 April 2006 |accessdate=20 October 2006 | first=Matthew | last=Beard| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060907055717/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece| archivedate= 7 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> on 19 October 2006, a set of [[Kate Moss]] paintings sold in [[Sotheby's]] London for £50,400, setting an auction record for Banksy's work. The six silk-screen prints, featuring the model painted in the style of [[Andy Warhol]]'s [[Marilyn Monroe]] pictures, sold for five times their estimated value. His stencil of a green [[Mona Lisa]] with real paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at the same auction.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069384.stm|title=Banksy works set auction record |work=BBC News |date=20 October 2006 |accessdate=20 October 2006}}</ref>
In December, journalist [[Max Foster]] coined the phrase, "the Banksy effect," to illustrate how interest in other street artists was growing on the back of Banksy's success.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/04/ywt.01.html |title=Your World Toady (Transcript) |publisher=CNN |date=4 December 2006 | accessdate=26 April 2010}} "Banksy Effect" mentioned near end.</ref>
[[File:Banksy-ps.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Naked Man image by Banksy, on the wall of a sexual health clinic<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5346822.stm |title=UK , Magazine , Faces of the week |work=BBC News |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> in [[Park Street, Bristol]]. Following popular support, the City Council has decided it will be allowed to remain – ([[:File:banksy.in.bristols.park.street.longshot.arp.jpg|wider view]]).]]
On 21 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in London auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for his ''Bombing Middle England''. Two of his other graffiti works, ''Balloon Girl'' and ''Bomb Hugger'', sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0710535520070207|title=British graffiti artist joins elite in record sale|agency=Reuters |date=7 February 2007|accessdate=8 November 2008}}</ref> The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices: ''Ballerina with Action Man Parts'' reached £96,000; ''Glory'' sold for £72,000; ''Untitled (2004)'' sold for £33,600; all significantly above estimated values.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html |title=Sotheby's makes a killing from Banksy's guerrilla artworks |first=Geneviève |last=Roberts |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=19 January 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090221123459/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html| archivedate= 21 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere">{{cite web|last=Collins |first=Lauren |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all |title=Banksy Was Here: The invisible man of graffiti art |work=The New Yorker |date=14 May 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081230190402/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all| archivedate= 30 December 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
In February 2007, the owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in [[Bristol]] decided to sell the house through Red Propeller art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural that comes with a house attached.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm |title=Free house as part of mural sale |work=BBC News |date=12 February 2007 |accessdate=12 February 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070213055359/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm| archivedate= 13 February 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In 2008, Nathan Wellard and Maev Neal, a couple from Norfolk, UK, made headlines in Britain when they decided to sell their mobile home that contains a 30-foot mural, entitled Fragile Silence, done by Banksy a decade prior to his rise to fame. According to Nathan Wellard, Banksy had asked the couple if he could use the side of their home as a "large canvas," to which they agreed. In return for the "canvas", the Bristol stencil artist gave them two free tickets to the Glastonbury Music Festival. The mobile home purchased by the couple 11 years ago for 1,000 GBP, is now being sold for 500,000 GBP.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mobile 'art house' for sale|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7433882.stm|publisher=BBC News | date=3 June 2008}}</ref>
In April 2007, [[Transport for London]] painted over Banksy's iconic image of a scene from the [[Quentin Tarantino]] film ''[[Pulp Fiction (Banksy)|Pulp Fiction]]'', featuring [[Samuel L. Jackson]] and [[John Travolta]] clutching bananas instead of guns.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-449525/Why-Banksys-fans-going-bananas.html|title=Why Banksy's fans are going bananas|last=Newling|first=Dan|date=19 April 2007|work=[[Daily Mail]]|publisher=[[DMG Media]]|accessdate=5 February 2015}}</ref> Although the image was very popular, [[Transport for London]] claimed that the "graffiti" created "a general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime" and their staff are "professional cleaners not professional art critics."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm |title=Iconic Banksy image painted over |work=BBC News |date=20 April 2007 |accessdate=20 April 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070525234557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm| archivedate= 25 May 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy tagged the same site again and, initially, the actors were portrayed as holding real guns instead of bananas, but they were adorned with banana costumes. Some time later, Banksy made a tribute artwork over this second ''Pulp Fiction'' work. The tribute was for 19-year-old British graffiti artist Ozone who, along with fellow artist Wants, was hit by an underground train in [[Barking]], East London on 12 January 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/20/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title=Blood on the tracks |first=Esther |last=Addley |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 January 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009 }}</ref> Banksy depicted an angel wearing a bullet-proof vest holding a skull (pictured below left). He also wrote a note on his website saying:
<blockquote>''The last time I hit this spot I painted a crap picture of two men in banana costumes waving hand guns. A few weeks later a writer called Ozone completely dogged it and then wrote 'If it's better next time I'll leave it' in the bottom corner. When we lost Ozone we lost a fearless graffiti writer and as it turns out a pretty perceptive art critic. Ozone – rest in peace.''<ref>{{cite book|last=Bull|first=Martin|title=Banksy Locations & Tours: A collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London, England|year=2011|publisher=PM Press|isbn=978-1-60486-320-8}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Ozone's Angel.jpg|thumb|left|''Ozone's Angel'']]
On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work ''Space Girl & Bird'' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000) around 20 times the estimate at [[Bonhams]] of London.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425 |title=Reuters UK: Elusive artist Banksy sets record price |publisher=Uk.reuters.com |date=25 April 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081230165901/http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425| archivedate= 30 December 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's [[Greatest Britons|Greatest living Briton]]. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award and continued with his notoriously anonymous status.
On 4 June 2007, it was reported that Banksy's ''The Drinker'' had been stolen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy Statue Stolen |url=http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html |work=[[Stranger (magazine)|Stranger]] |accessdate=4 June 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070608161006/http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html| archivedate= 8 June 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1184233,00.html |title=But is it kidnap?|first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=2 April 2004 |accessdate=15 June 2008 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080625121937/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1184233,00.html| archivedate= 25 June 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In October 2007, most of his works offered for sale at [[Bonhams]] auction house in London sold for more than twice their reserve price.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0,,30100-1289548,00.html ''Guerilla Artist,''] Sky News, 24 October 2007</ref>
[[File:Banksyglasto.JPG|thumb|Banksy's "Stonehenge" from portable toilets at the [[Glastonbury Festival]], June 2007]]
Banksy has published a "[[manifesto]]" on his website.<ref name=manifesto>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050119032828/http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archivedate=19 January 2005|title=Camp}}</ref> The text of the manifesto is credited as the diary entry of one [[Lieutenant Colonel]] Mervin Willett Gonin, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], which is exhibited in the [[Imperial War Museum]]. It describes how a shipment of lipstick to the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen-Belsen]] [[concentration camp]] immediately after its liberation at the end of World War II helped the internees regain their humanity. However, as of 18 January 2008, Banksy's Manifesto has been substituted with Graffiti Heroes No.03 that describes Peter Chappell's graffiti quest of the 1970s that worked to free [[George Davis (armed robber)|George Davis]] of his imprisonment.<ref name=manifesto /> By 12 August 2009 he was relying on [[Emo Philips]]' "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn't work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness."
A small number of Banksy's works can be seen in the movie ''[[Children of Men]]'', including a stenciled image of two policemen kissing and another stencil of a child looking down a shop.
Banksy, who "is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his work second hand (including Lazarides Ltd, Andipa Gallery, Bank Robber, Dreweatts etc.),"<ref>{{cite web |title= A message from Banksy's lawyer |url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html |accessdate=28 October 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101026144455/http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html| archivedate= 26 October 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> claims that the exhibition at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York City (his first major exhibition in that city) is unauthorised. The exhibition featured 62 of his paintings and prints.<ref>{{cite web |title= Banksy Pans His First New York Show |work=Artinfo |publisher=[[Louise Blouin Media]] |date=7 December 2007 |url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26312/banksy-pans-his-first-new-york-show/ |accessdate=16 April 2008}}</ref>
=== 2008 ===
[[File:Banksy Swinger Building Detail.jpg|thumb|left|Banksy "Swinger" in New Orleans]]
In March, a stencilled graffiti work appeared on [[Thames Water]] tower in the middle of the [[Holland Park Avenue|Holland Park roundabout]], and it was widely attributed to Banksy. It was of a child painting the tag "Take this—Society!" in bright orange. [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]] spokesman, Councillor Greg Smith branded the art as vandalism, and ordered its immediate removal, which was carried out by H&F council workmen within three days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080314012848/http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html|archivedate=14 March 2008|title=Banksy must have an Oyster card. He's gone west!|work=The London Paper|date=11 March 2008}}</ref>
[[File:No Loitering Banksy.jpg|thumb|Work on building in the [[Lower 9th Ward]] of New Orleans, August 2008]]
In late August 2008, marking the third anniversary of [[Hurricane Katrina]] and the associated [[2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans|levee failure disaster]], Banksy produced a series of works in New Orleans, Louisiana, mostly on buildings derelict since the disaster.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Banksy-Paints-Murals-In-New-Orleans-To-Mark-Hurricane-Katrina-Anniversary/Media-Gallery/200808415088995?lpos=World+News_0&lid=GALLERY_15088995_Banksy+Paints+Murals+In+New+Orleans+To+Mark+Hurricane+Katrina+Anniversary |title=Banksy Paints Murals in New Orleans To Mark Hurricane Katrina Anniversary; Gallery 'Banksy Art in Big Easy' |work=Sky News |date=28 August 2008}}</ref>
A stencil painting attributed to Banksy appeared at a vacant petrol station in the [[Ensley, Birmingham, Alabama|Ensley]] neighbourhood of [[Birmingham, Alabama]] on 29 August as [[Hurricane Gustav]] approached the New Orleans area. The painting, depicting a hooded member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] hanging from a noose, was quickly covered with black spray paint and later removed altogether.<ref name=WoosterCollective>[http://www.woostercollective.com/post/banksys-road-trip-continues-takes-on-the-kkk-in-birmingham-alabama Banksy's Road Trip Continues: Takes On The KKK In Birmingham, Alabama], Marc Schiller, ''[[Wooster Collective]]''</ref>
His first official exhibition in New York City, the "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill," opened 5 October 2008. The [[Audio-Animatronics|animatronic]] pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby [[Chicken McNuggets]] as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror.<ref name=NYOct2008>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/design/09publ.html | title=Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip | work=The New York Times | first=Melena | last=Ryzik | date=9 October 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Bansky one nation under cctv.jpg|thumb|left|''One nation under [[CCTV]]'', 2008 mural removed (painted over) in 2009.<ref name = SMHOct2008>{{cite news|url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/banksy-art-is-graffiti-rules-council/2008/10/24/1224351528852.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title = Banksy art is graffiti, rules town hall |date = 24 October 2008}}</ref>]]
The [[Westminster City Council]] stated in October 2008 that the work "One Nation Under [[Closed-circuit television|CCTV]]," painted in April 2008 would be painted over as it was graffiti. The council said it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy "has no more right to paint graffiti than a child." Robert Davis, the chairman of the council planning committee told ''The Times'' newspaper: "If we condone this then we might as well say that any kid with a spray can is producing art."<ref name = SMHOct2008 /> The work was painted over in April 2009.
In December 2008, The Little Diver, a Banksy image of a diver in a duffle coat in Melbourne Australia was destroyed. The image had been protected by a sheet of clear [[perspex]]; however, silver paint was poured behind the protective sheet and later tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere." The image was almost completely obliterated.<ref name = TheAgeDec2008>{{cite news|url = http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-melbourne-loses-its-treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html|work=The Age |location=Australia|title = The painter painted: Melbourne loses its treasured Banksy|date = 14 December 2008 | first=Janae | last=Houghton}}</ref>
==== The Cans Festival (2008) ====
In London, over the weekend 3–5 May 2008, Banksy hosted an exhibition called ''[[The Cans Festival]]''. It was situated on [[Leake Street]], a road tunnel formerly used by Eurostar underneath [[London Waterloo station]]. Graffiti artists with stencils were invited to join in and paint their own artwork, as long as it did not cover anyone else's.<ref>{{cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7377622.stm|title = Tunnel becomes Banksy art exhibit|date = 2 May 2008|work=BBC News | accessdate=5 January 2010}}</ref>
Banksy invited thirty-nine artists from around the world, including [[Sten Lex]], [[Bsas Stencil]], [[Prism (street artist)|Prism]], [[Roadsworth (artist)|Roadsworth]], [[Blek le Rat|Blek]], C215, [[The Dotmasters|Dotmasters]], [[Hero (artist)|Hero]], [[Sadhu (artist)|Sadhu]], [[Lucamaleonte (artist)|Lucamaleonte]], [[Faile (artist)|Faile]], [[Logan Hicks]], [[Btoy]], [[Vhils (artists)|Vhils]], [[Vexta]] and [[John Grider (artists)|John Grider]] exhibited their works in an abandoned tunnel near Leake Street in South East London.<ref>{{cite news | title = Banksy Hosts The Cans Festival | url = http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php | publisher = Cool Hunting | date = 6 May 2008|accessdate=17 May 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080511184925/http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php| archivedate= 11 May 2008| deadurl= no}}</ref>
=== 2009 ===
[[File:Banksy Bristol Queues.jpg|thumb|Queues for the Banksy vs Bristol Museum Show in [[Bristol]], June 2009]]
[[File:King Robbo.jpg|thumb|The location of the damaged 1985 graffiti by [[King Robbo|Robbo]] in Camden, London allegedly painted over by Banksy and subsequently painted over by Robbo in retaliation.]]
In May 2009, Banksy parted company with agent [[Steve Lazarides]] and announced that Pest Control,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pestcontroloffice.com/whatispco.html |title=What is Pest Control? |publisher=Pest Control Office|accessdate=23 May 2009}}</ref> the handling service who act on his behalf, would be the only point of sale for new works.
On 13 June 2009, the Banksy vs Bristol Museum show opened at [[Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery]], featuring more than 100 works of art, including animatronics and installations; it is his largest exhibition yet, featuring 78 new works.<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy's homecoming reviewed |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=12 June 2009 |accessdate=14 June 2009 |last=Cafe
|first=Rebecca | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090615142841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm| archivedate= 15 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum|title=Take a stuffy old institution. Remix. Add wit. It's Banksy v the museum|last=Sawyer|first=Miranda|date=13 June 2009|work=The Guardian |location=London |publisher=Guardian News and Media|accessdate=13 June 2009 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090615161052/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum| archivedate= 15 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Reaction to the show was positive, with over 8,500 visitors to the show on the first weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html |title=Thousands flock to Banksy show in Bristol|date=15 June 2009 |work=Bristol Evening Post |publisher=Bristol News and Media |accessdate=15 June 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090618140338/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html| archivedate= 18 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Over the course of the twelve weeks, the exhibition was visited over 300,000 times.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy art show draws in 300,000 |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=31 August 2009 |accessdate=31 August 2009 | first=Rebecca | last=Cafe}}</ref>
In September 2009, a Banksy work parodying the Royal Family was partially destroyed by Hackney Council after they served an enforcement notice for graffiti removal to the former address of the property owner. The mural had been commissioned for the 2003 [[Blur (band)|Blur]] single "[[Crazy Beat]]" and the property owner, who had allowed it to be painted, was reported to have been in tears when she saw it was being painted over.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8238896.stm |title=Blur Banksy is ruined by mistake |publisher=BBC News |date=5 September 2009 |accessdate=5 September 2009}}</ref>
In December 2009, Banksy marked the end of the [[2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference]] by painting four murals on global warming. One included the phrase, "I don't believe in global warming;" the words were submerged in water.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8425397.stm Banksy art tackles global warming]. ''BBC News''. 21 December 2009.</ref>
A feud and graffiti war between Banksy and [[King Robbo]] broke out when Banksy allegedly painted over one of Robbo's tags. The feud has led to many of Banksy's works being altered by graffiti writers.<ref name="indy">{{cite web|url=http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/my-graffiti-war-with-banksy-by-king-robbo/|title=My Graffiti War with Banksy By King Robbo|author=Fuertes-Knight, Jo |publisher=Sabotage Times
}}</ref>
=== ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' (2010) ===
The world premiere of the film ''[[Exit Through the Gift Shop]]'' occurred at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in [[Park City, Utah]], on 24 January. He created 10 street artworks around Park City and [[Salt Lake City]] to tie in with the screening.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14232591 |title=Famous 'tagger' Banksy strikes in Utah |first=Sean P. |last=Means| work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=21 January 2010 |accessdate=21 January 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100124082724/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14232591| archivedate= 24 January 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In February, [[The Whitehouse (pub)|The Whitehouse]] public house in [[Liverpool]], England, was sold for £114,000 at auction. The side of the building has an image of a giant rat by Banksy.<ref name="liverpooldailypost">{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/02/18/liverpool-banksy-rat-pub-building-sold-for-114-000-at-auction-100252-25864205/ |title=Liverpool Banksy rat pub building sold for £114,000 at auction |date=18 February 2010|work=The Liverpool Daily Post|author=Sharpe, Laura }}</ref>
In March 2010, the work "Forgive us our Trespassing" was displayed at the [[London Bridge]] in conjunction with [[Art Below]] an arts company that put on art shows on the [[London Underground]]. The work was censored by the [[Transport for London]] (TfL), forbidding display of the work with its halo, because of the prevalence of graffiti in the underground.<ref name="BBCBanksy">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8573323.stm |title=London Underground Banksy work regains its halo |work=BBC News |date=17 March 2010 |accessdate=25 December 2011}}</ref> It was displayed without the halo over the boy's head, but after a few days the halo was repainted by a graffitist, so the TfL disposed of the poster. This decline went through the press and several articles were published remarking on the progress of the poster.<ref name="BBCBanksy"/><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23816233-underground-mystery-as-banksy-work-regains-its-halo.do
|title=Underground mystery as Banksy work regains its halo
|work=London Evening Standard
|publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk
|date= 17 March 2010
|accessdate=25 December 2011
}}</ref>
{{Quote box|width=27%|align=left|quote="Banksy paints over the line between aesthetics and language, then stealthily repaints it in the unlikeliest of places. His works, whether he stencils them on the streets, sells them in exhibitions or hangs them in museums on the sly, are filled with wit and metaphors that transcend language barriers."|source=—[[Shepard Fairey]] writing for ''Time'' on Banksy's entry in the [[Time 100]] list, April 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fairy|first1=Shephard|title=Time 100: Banksy|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1984945,00.html|agency=Time|issue=20 May 2015|date=29 April 2010}}</ref>}}
In April, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in San Francisco, five of his works appeared in various parts of the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| title=Street Artist Banksy Marks the Mission |accessdate=27 April 2010|work=The San Francisco Chronicle | date=23 April 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100428215041/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| archivedate= 28 April 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy reportedly paid a [[Chinatown, San Francisco|San Francisco Chinatown]] building owner $50 for the use of their wall for one of his stencils.<ref>[http://sfluxe.com/2010/04/24/banksy-in-san-francisco/ Banksy in San Francisco | San Francisco Luxury Living]. Sfluxe.com (24 April 2010). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref>
In early May 2010, seven new Banksy works of art appeared in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| title=Banksy comes to Toronto |accessdate=9 May 2010|work=Torontoist| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100512044227/http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| archivedate= 12 May 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> though most have been subsequently painted over or removed.
In May, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in Royal Oak, Banksy visited the Detroit area and left his mark in several places in Detroit and Warren.<ref name="Wright-2010">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2010/05/mt-exclusive-banksy-leaves-a-rat-in-warren-and-a-diamond-in-detroit | title=Banksy Leaves a Rat in Warren and a Diamond in Detroit | author=Travis R Wright | date=10 May 2010 | accessdate=14 March 2011 | publisher=Metro Times blogs}}</ref> Shortly after, his work depicting a little boy holding a can of red paint next to the words "I remember when all this was trees" was excavated by the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios. They claim that they do not intend to sell the work but plan to preserve it and display it at their Detroit gallery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/100514077/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-leaves-mark-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm|title=Graffiti artist Banksy leaves mark on Detroit and ignites firestorm|author=Mark Stryker}}</ref> There was also an attempted removal of one of the Warren works known as "Diamond Girl."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.detroitmoxie.com/home/2010/5/12/street-artist-banksy-tags-detroit.html|date=12 May 2010|work=Detroit Moxie|title=Street Artist Banksy Tags Detroit|author=Becks Davis}}</ref>
In late January 2011, ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110711102803/http://oscar.go.com/nominations/category/documentary-feature/synopsis/exit-through-the-gift-shop/687163 Banksy nominated for Oscar]. Oscar.go.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Banksy released a statement about the nomination, where he said, "This is a big surprise... I don't agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I'm prepared to make an exception for the ones I'm nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me."<ref>[http://www.nme.com/movies/news/banksy-welcomes-oscar-nomination-for-exit-through-the-gift-shop/203819 Banksy statement to Oscar nomination]. Nme.com (27 January 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Leading up to the Oscars, Banksy blanketed Los Angeles with street art. Many people speculated if Banksy would show up at the Oscars in disguise and make a surprise appearance if he won the Oscar. ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' did not win the award, which went to ''[[Inside Job (2010 film)|Inside Job]]''. In early March 2011, Banksy responded to the Oscars with an artwork in Weston, UK, of a little girl holding the Oscar and pouting. Many people think that it is in reference to 15-month-old Lara, who dropped and damaged her father's (''The King's Speech'' co-producer Simon Egan) Oscar statue.<ref>[http://swns.com/banksy-pays-tribute-to-oscar-dropping-child-with-new-artwork-091535.html Banksy responds to Oscars]. Swns.com (9 March 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was broadcast on British public television station [[Channel 4]] on 13 August 2011.
Banksy was also credited with the opening [[couch gag]] for the 2010 ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[MoneyBart]]," depicting people working in deplorable conditions and using endangered or mythical animals to make both the episodes cel-by-cel and the merchandise connected with the program.<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513 |title= Banksy creates new Simpsons title sequence|accessdate=12 October 2010|work=BBC News | date=11 October 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101012045931/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513| archivedate= 12 October 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> His name appears several times throughout the episode's opening sequence, spray-painted on assorted walls and signs. Fox sanitised parts of the opening "for taste" and to make it less grim. In January 2011, Banksy published the original storyboard on its website.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110126164711/http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/simp.html Original Storyboard] from banksy.co.uk, archived at web.archive.org</ref> According to Banksy, the storyboard "led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walk out by the animation department." Executive director [[Al Jean]] jokingly said, "This is what you get when you outsource."<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010" />
=== 2011 ===
In May 2011 Banksy released a lithographic print which showed a smoking [[petrol bomb]] contained in a 'Tesco Value' bottle. This followed a long running campaign by locals against the opening of a Tesco Express supermarket in Banksy's home city of Bristol. Violent clashes had taken place between police and demonstrators in the Stokes Croft area. Banksy produced the poster ostensibly to raise money for local groups in the Stokes Croft area and to raise money for the legal defence of those arrested during the riots. The posters were sold exclusively at the Bristol Anarchists Bookfair in Stokes Croft for £5 each.
In December, he unveiled "Cardinal Sin" at the [[Walker Art Gallery]], Liverpool. The bust, which replaces a priest's face with a "pixelated" effect, was a statement on the [[child abuse]] scandal in the Catholic Church.<ref name="BBCNews15Dec2011">{{cite news| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16184773 |work=BBC News | title=Banksy unveils church abuse work | date=15 December 2011}}</ref>
=== 2012 ===
In May his [[Parachuting Rat]], painted in [[Melbourne]] in the late 1990s, was accidentally destroyed by plumbers installing new pipes.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 Banksy rat destroyed by builders – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)]. Abc.net.au (16 May 2012). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref>
In July, prior to the [[2012 Olympic Games]] Banksy posted photographs of paintings with an Olympic theme on his website but did not disclose their location.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18946654 London 2012: Banksy and street artists' Olympic graffiti]. bbc.co.uk (24 July 2012).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/0/48809/Arts--Culture/0/British-Grafitti-artist-Banksy-in-Olympics-controv.aspx/ |title=British Grafitti artist Banksy in Olympics controversy |publisher=English.ahram.org.eg |date=2012-07-27 |accessdate=2014-04-30}}</ref>
=== 2013 ===
On 18 February, BBC News reported that a recent Banksy mural, known as the [[Slave Labour (mural)|Slave Labour mural]] portraying a young child sewing [[Union Flag]] bunting (created around the time of the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II]]) had been removed from the side of a [[Poundland]] store in Wood Green, north London, and soon appeared for sale in Fine Art Auctions Miami's catalogue (a US auction site based in Florida). News of this has reportedly caused "lots of anger" in the local community and is considered by some to be a theft. Fine Art Auctions Miami has rejected claims of theft, saying it had signed a contract with a "well-known collector" and that "everything was above board"; despite this, the local Councillor for Wood Green is campaigning for the work's return.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261 Banksy mural vanishes from London, appears at US auction] bbc.co.uk/news (18 February 2013). Retrieved 18 February 2013.</ref>
On the scheduled day of the auction, Fine Art Auctions Miami announced that it had withdrawn the work of art from the sale.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21562042 Taken Banksy is withdrawn from sale] bbc.co.uk/news (24 February 2013). Retrieved 3 January 2014.</ref>
On 11 May, BBC News reports that the same Banksy mural is up for auction again in Covent Garden by the Sincura Group. The auction is scheduled to take place in June. It is expected to fetch up to £450,000.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22492378 Banksy Slave Labour mural up for auction again] bbc.co.uk/news (11 May 2013). Retrieved 3 January 2014.</ref> On 24 September, after over a year since his previous piece, a new Banksy mural went up on his website along with the subtitle 'Better Out Than In'.
==== ''Better Out Than In'' (2013) ====
{{main|Better Out Than In}}
On 1 October, Banksy began a one-month "show on the streets of [[New York City|New York [City]]]", for which he opened a separate website<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/ |title=Better Out Than In |publisher=Banksy.co.uk |date=13 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> and granted an interview to ''[[The Village Voice]]'' via his publicist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hamilton|first= Keegan |title=An Interview With Banksy, Street Art Cult Hero, International Man of Mystery |publisher= The Village Voice |date= 9 October 2013 |url= http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-10-09/art/banksy-better-out-than-in-new-york-residency-street-art-graffiti/3}}</ref>
A pop-up boutique of about 25 spray-art canvases appeared on [[Fifth Avenue]] near [[Central Park]] on 12 October. Tourists were able to buy Banksy art for just $60 each. In a note posted to his website, the artist wrote: "Please note this was a one-off. The stall will not be there again." The BBC estimated that the street-stall art pieces could be worth as much as $31,000. The booth was manned by an unknown elderly man who went about four hours before making a sale, yawning and eating lunch as people strolled by without a second glance at the work. Banksy chronicled the surprise sale in a video posted to his website noting, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24518315 |title=BBC News – Banksy stall sells art works for $60 in New York |publisher=BBC |date= 14 October 2013|accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-20562101 |title=Banksy: I Sold Original Artwork for $60 in NYC – ABC News |publisher=ABC News |date= |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/living/banksy-street-art-sale/?hpt=hp_c3 |title=Graffiti artist Banksy says he offered $60 paintings in Central Park — CNN.com |publisher=CNN |date=14 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> Two of the canvasses sold at a July 2014 auction for $214,000.<ref>http://animalnewyork.com/2014/two-banksys-central-park-spray-art-canvases-sell-214000-auction/</ref>
It was reported that then-[[New York City Mayor]] [[Michael Bloomberg]] called Banksy a vandal whose work is not the definition of art, and that the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]]'s vandal squad was on the hunt for Banksy over his various graffiti art and [[Street installation|installations]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Jeane MacIntosh, Larry Celona and Bruce Golding |url=http://nypost.com/2013/10/16/banksy-clowns-around-in-new-work/ |title=Banksy zings McDonald's | New York Post |publisher=New York Post |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/16/bloomberg-bashes-banksys-street-art/ |title=Michael Bloomberg: Banksy's Graffiti 'Not My Definition Of Art' « CBS New York |publisher=CBS Local |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Semuels |first=Alana |url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-banksy-new-york-20131016,0,4869299.story?track=rss |title=New Yorkers hustle to catch Banksy street art |publisher=Los Angeles Time |date= 17 October 2013|accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> One creation was a fiberglass sculpture of [[Ronald McDonald]] and a real person, barefoot and in ragged clothes, shining the oversized shoes of Ronald McDonald. The sculpture was unveiled in [[Queens]] but moved outside a different [[McDonald's]] around the city every day.<ref>{{cite web|last=Grant |first=Drew |url=http://observer.com/2013/10/banksys-ronald-mcdonald-statue-and-live-shoeshine-boy-take-manhattan/ |title=Banksy Unveils 'Shoeshine Boy' at McDonald's | The New York Observer |publisher=The New York Observer |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-attacks-mcdonalds-in-new-sculpture-8887022.html |title=Banksy attacks McDonald's in new sculpture |author=Liam O'Brien |date=17 October 2013 |work= The Independent |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/jonathanjonesblog/2013/oct/17/banksy-mcdonalds-new-york |title=Banksy gives Ronald McDonald's clown shoes a shine |author=Jonathan Jones |work= The Guardian |date=17 October 2013}}</ref> Other works included a YouTube video showing what appears to be footage of jihadist militants shooting down an animated [[Dumbo the Elephant]]; travelling installations that toured the city including a slaughterhouse delivery truck full of stuffed animals and a waterfall; and a modified painting donated to a charity shop which was later sold in an online auction for $615,000.<ref name=cnn>{{cite news |url= http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-banksy-residency-ends/|title=Banksy bids farewell to New York with balloons |author= Chris Boyette |work= CNN |date=1 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/banksy-donates-nazi-doctored-landscape-to-help-aids-group.html |title=Banksy's Nazi-Doctored Painting Raises $615,000 Online |author= Katya Kazakina |date=1 November 2013 |work=Blomberg }}</ref> Banksy also posted a mock-up of a ''[[New York Times]]'' [[op-ed]] attacking the design of the [[One World Trade Center]] after the ''Times'' rejected his submission.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/banksy-one-world-trade-center_n_4169568.html |title=Banksy Bashes One World Trade Center In Rejected New York Times Op-Ed |work=Huffington Post |date=28 October 2013 |first=Inae |last=Oh}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Banksy rips New York Times for rejected op-ed |url=http://nypost.com/2013/10/27/banksy-rips-new-york-times-for-rejected-op-ed/ |work=New York Post |author=Leonard Greene|date=27 October 2013}}</ref> The residency in New York concluded on 31 October 2013,<ref name=cnn/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10353135/Banksy-in-New-York-pictures.html |title=Banksy in New York pictures |work=The Telegraph | location=London |date=31 October 2013}}</ref> many of the pieces, though, were either vandalised, removed or stolen.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/10398575/Banksy-sphinx-sculpture-stolen-in-New-York.html |title=Banksy sphinx sculpture stolen in New York |author=Alice Vincent |date=23 October 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2460471/Banksy-sees-street-artworks-vandalized-New-York.html |title=Turning the tables on Banksy: British graffiti artist sees two more of his highly valuable street artworks vandalized in New York |date=15 October 2013 |work=The Daily Mail |deadurl=no |accessdate=3 January 2014 |location=London}}</ref>
=== 2015 'Banksy in Gaza' clip ===
In February 2015 Banksy published a 2-minute video titled "Make this the year '''YOU''' discover a new destination" about his trip to [[Gaza Strip]]. During his visit he has painted a few artworks including a kitten on the remains of a house destroyed by Israel ("''I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website — but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens''") and a swing hanging off a watchtower. In a statement to the [[New York Times]] his publicist said -
<blockquote>I don't want to take sides. But when you see entire suburban neighborhoods reduced to rubble with no hope of a future — what you're really looking at is a vast outdoor recruitment center for terrorists. And we should probably address this for all our sakes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy's Murals Turn Up In Gaza Strip|url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389284591/banksys-murals-turn-up-in-gaza-strip|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=26 February 2015}}</ref></blockquote>
Israeli sources have reported on some inaccuracies in the video's narration. The video says "no cement has been allowed into Gaza since the bombing", although Israel currently allows limited amounts of cement to be imported. The video also says that the area cannot be accessed except by illegal tunnels, although the [[Erez Crossing]] is currently open to Arab residents. The [[Rafah Crossing]] with Egypt is, however, closed.<ref>{{cite news|title=WATCH: Banksy takes aim at Gazan misery in new video|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.644406|publisher=[[Haaretz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy highlights Gaza plight with mock tourism video|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4631245,00.html|publisher=Ynet}}</ref>
== Identity ==
Banksy's name and identity remain unknown, but a commonly cited 2008 ''[[Mail on Sunday]]'' investigation of several former schoolmates and associates that he is believed to be a former pupil at the [[Public school (UK)|public]] [[Bristol Cathedral School]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24464663 "Banksy 'may abandon commercial art']. BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">[http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/apr/20/observer-profile-banksy-street-art "Banksy: the artist who's driven to the wall"]. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref> There has also been speculation that Banksy is a woman, or that Banksy is a team of seven artists.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Banksy is (Probably) a Woman| url=http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/11/why-banksy-is-probably-a-woman/382202/ |last1=Capps |first1=Kriston |date=4 November 2014 |website=Citylab |publisher=The Atlantic |accessdate=9 November 2014}}</ref> In October 2014 an internet hoax circulated that Banksy had been arrested and his identity revealed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Ella |date=20 October 2014 |title=Banksy not arrested: Internet duped by fake report claiming artist's identity revealed |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-arrest-hoax-internet-duped-by-fake-report-claiming-that-the-street-artists-identity-has-been-revealed-9806157.htm |newspaper=The Independent |location= |accessdate=9 November 2014 }}</ref> It has been stated that the reason for this secrecy is that graffiti is a crime.<ref>''[[The Culture Show]]'' - Episode 13</ref>
== Notable artworks ==
{{Quote box
| quote = "When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires."
| source = – Banksy<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 150</ref>
| width = 25%
| align = right
}}
[[File:Mauer-betlehem.jpg|thumb|Near [[Bethlehem]] – 2005]]
Regarding personal fame, Banksy has stated that "We don't need any more heroes; we just need someone to take out the [[recycling]]."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 202</ref> However, in addition to his artwork, Banksy has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile artworks, including the following:
* At [[London Zoo]], he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in {{convert|7|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} letters.<ref>{{cite web| first= William | last=Langley | date=18 March 2007| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3638535/For-the-Gauguin-of-graffiti-it-was-all-about-tagging.-Now-hes-into-six-figure-price-tags.html| title=For the Gauguin of graffiti it was all about tagging. Now he's into six-figure price tags| publisher=The Telegraph |accessdate=9 November 2014}}</ref>
* At [[Bristol Zoo]], he left the message "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring." in the elephant enclosure.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/design/24arti.html |title = Need Talent to Exhibit in Museums? Not This Prankster |accessdate=12 June 2008 |date = 24 March 2005 |work=The New York Times |first=Randy |last=Kennedy}}</ref>
* In March 2005, he placed subverted artworks in the [[Museum of Modern Art]], [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], and [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[Manhattan]] as well as the [[Brooklyn Museum]] in [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html |title=A Wooster Exclusive: Banksy Hits New York's Most Famous Museums (All of them) |accessdate=19 September 2006 |date=23 March 2005| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060909040458/http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html| archivedate= 9 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In May 2005 Banksy's version of a primitive [[cave painting]] depicting a human figure hunting wildlife while pushing a shopping trolley was hung in gallery 49 of the [[British Museum]], London.<ref name=wired>{{cite journal |first=Jeff |last=Howe |journal=[[Wired magazine|Wired]] |issue=13.08 |url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html |title=Art Attack |date=August 2005 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060902025945/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html| archivedate= 2 September 2006 |deadurl=no |accessdate=3 January 2014}}</ref>
* In August 2005, Banksy painted nine images on the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]], including an image of a ladder going up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall.<ref name="JonesIsrael" /><ref name="BBCNews5Aug2005">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm |title=Art prankster sprays Israeli wall |publisher=BBC News |date=5 August 2005 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Parry |url=http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml |title=British Graffiti Artist, Banksy, Hacks the Wall |date=10 October 2006 |publisher=Nigel Parry, from MIT ''Thresholds'' journal |accessdate=12 February 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090211151040/http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml| archivedate= 11 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Parry |url=http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article4153.shtml |title=Well-known UK graffiti artist Banksy hacks the Wall |date=2 September 2005 |publisher=[[Electronic Intifada]] |accessdate=12 February 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090216190214/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4153.shtml| archivedate= 16 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In October 2005, Banksy designed six station IDs for [[Nickelodeon]].<ref>{{cite web|author=loveforlogos |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aehLH1w8I&feature=youtu.be |title=Nickelodeon Next ID (2005) |publisher=YouTube |date=29 July 2012 |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref>
* In April 2006, Banksy created a sculpture based on a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side, apparently bleeding, and placed it in a side street in [[Soho]], London. It was later removed by [[Westminster City Council|Westminster Council]]."<ref name="BBCNews7Apr2007">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4887660.stm |title=Artist's cold call cuts off phone |work=BBC News |date=7 April 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref>
* In June 2006, Banksy created an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall visible from Park Street in central [[Bristol]]. The image sparked "a heated debate",<ref name="HSH p93">''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'' by Steve Wright (2007), p. 93</ref> with the [[Bristol City Council]] leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go.<ref name="nakedman">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5103306.stm |title=Artist's saucy stencil for city |date=21 June 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006 |work=BBC News}}</ref> After an internet discussion in which 97% of the 500 people surveyed supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building.<ref name="HSH p93" /> The mural was later defaced with blue paint.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8114184.stm |title=Banksy mural defaced with paint |date=23 June 2009 |accessdate=23 June 2009 |work=BBC News| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090626223938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8114184.stm| archivedate= 26 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In August/September 2006, Banksy placed up to 500 copies of [[Paris Hilton]]'s debut CD, ''[[Paris (Paris Hilton album)|Paris]]'', in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by [[Danger Mouse (music producer)|Danger Mouse]]. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why Am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". Several copies of the CD were purchased by the public before stores were able to remove them, some going on to be sold for as much as £750 on online auction websites such as [[eBay]]. The cover art depicted Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with her chihuahua Tinkerbell's head replacing her own, and one of her stepping out of a luxury car, edited to include a group of homeless people, which included the caption "90% of success is just showing up."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm |title=Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank |publisher=BBC News |date=4 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060910085841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm| archivedate= 10 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Claire |last=Truscott |first2=Martin |last2=Hodgson |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece |title=Banksy targets Paris Hilton |publisher=[[The Independent on Sunday]] |date=3 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006 | location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060905204207/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece| archivedate= 5 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=10995 |title=Paris Prank Confirmed |date=7 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref>
* In September 2006, Banksy dressed an inflatable doll in the manner of a [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp]] prisoner ([[Guantanamo captive's uniforms|orange jumpsuit]], black hood, and handcuffs) and then placed the figure within the [[Big Thunder Mountain Railroad]] ride at the [[Disneyland]] theme park in [[Anaheim, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html|title=Breaking: The story Disneyland doesn't want you to know|date=8 September 2006|accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061015233859/http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html| archivedate= 15 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm|title=Artist Banksy targets Disneyland|work=BBC News |date=11 September 2006|accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061005170241/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm| archivedate= 5 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* He makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and was responsible for the cover art of [[Blur (band)|Blur's]] 2003 album ''[[Think Tank (Blur album)|Think Tank]]''.
* In September 2007, Banksy covered a wall in Portobello Road with a French artist painting graffiti of Banksy's name.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm|title=£208,100 eBay bid for Banksy wall|date=14 January 2008|accessdate=14 January 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080117104716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm| archivedate= 17 January 2008 | deadurl= no| work=BBC News}}</ref>
* In July 2012, in the run up to the ''[[London 2012]]'' Olympic games he created several pieces based upon this event. One included an image of an athlete throwing a missile instead of Javelin, evidently taking a poke at the Surface to Air missile sites positioned in the Stratford area to defend the games.<ref>{{cite web|author=Eurosport |url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/londonspy/london-could-destroy-banksy-valuable-olympic-graffiti-091627080.html |title=London could destroy Banksy's valuable Olympic graffiti | London Spy – Yahoo! Eurosport UK |publisher=Uk.eurosport.yahoo.com |date=25 July 2012 |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=24 July 2012 13:02 Updated: 26 July 2012 23:37 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/24/london-2012-banksy-street-art_n_1697535.html?utm_hp_ref=uk |title=London 2012: Street Artist Banksy's Olympic Graffiti Unveiled (PICTURES) |publisher=Huffingtonpost.co.uk |date= |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref>
* In April 2014, he created a piece in Cheltenham, near the GCHQ headquarters, which depicts three men wearing sunglasses and using listening devices to "snoop" on a telephone box, evidently criticising the recent [[Global surveillance disclosures]] of 2013. This was only confirmed by Banksy as his work later in June 2014.<ref>{{cite web|author=10 June 2014 13:02 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/10/banksy-creator-spy-booth-wall-art-gchq ref=uk |title=Banksy confirms he is creator of Spy Booth wall art near GCHQ |publisher=guardian.com |date= |accessdate=10 June 2014}}</ref>
=== Damaged artwork ===
{{Main|Works by Banksy that have been damaged or destroyed}}
Several artworks by Banksy were vandalized, painted over or destroyed.
In 2008, in [[Melbourne]], vandals had poured paint over a stencil of an old-fashioned diver wearing a trench coat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |title=Anti-graffiti crew accidentally paints over Banksy art in CBD |work=The Melbourne Leader |date=27 April 2010 |accessdate=27 April 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100429030922/http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/| archivedate= 29 April 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In April 2010, the [[Melbourne City Council]] reported that they had inadvertently ordered private contractors to paint over the last remaining Banksy art in the city. The image was of a [[Parachuting Rat|rat descending in a parachute]] adorning the wall of an old council building behind the Forum Theatre. This report was false, as the image was destroyed by plumbers in May 2012.
Many works that make up the ''Better Out Than In'' series in New York City have been [[Defacement (vandalism)|defaced]], some just hours after the piece was unveiled.<ref name=nytimes_welcome>{{cite news|title=Banksy’s New York Welcome|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/banksys-new-york-welcome.html|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=15 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko|first=Jane|title=Banksy Piece In Queens Defaced By Other Graffiti Artists|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/banksy-destroyed_n_4101145.html?utm_hp_ref=new-york|work=[[Huffington Post]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=15 October 2013}}</ref> At least one defacement was identified as done by a competing artist, OMAR NYC, who spray-painted over Banksy's red mylar balloon piece in [[Red Hook, Brooklyn|Red Hook]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko|first=Jane|title=Banksy Hater, OMAR NYC, Defaces Art In Red Hook|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/banksy-hater-defaces_n_4065250.html|work=[[Huffington Post]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=8 October 2013}}</ref> OMAR NYC also defaced some of Banksy's work in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Turco|first=Bucky|title=BANKSY THOROUGHLY RAGGED|url=http://animalnewyork.com/2010/banksy-thoroughly-ragged/|work=Animal New York|accessdate=21 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Dobkin|first=Jake|title=Banksy Gets Dissed|url=http://gothamist.com/2010/05/18/banksy_gets_dissed.php?#photo-1|work=[[Gothamist]]|accessdate=21 October 2013}}</ref>
== Technique ==
[[File:Banksy Girl ATM.JPG|thumb|ATM attacking a girl, Rosebery Avenue, London, January 2008]]
Asked about his technique, Banksy said: {{quote|I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.designiskinky.net/profiles/banksy.html|title=Design is Kinky|publisher=Design is Kinky|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090203043252/http://designiskinky.net/profiles/banksy.html| archivedate= 3 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>}}
[[Stencil#Aerosol stencils|Stencils]] are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photocopy nature of much of his work.
He mentions in his book, ''Wall and Piece'', that as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always too slow and was either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. So he devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour.
There is dispute in the street art world over the legitimacy of stencils, with many artists criticising their use as "cheating."<ref name="Graffiti Wars">{{cite web|title=Graffiti Wars|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/graffiti-wars|work=Graffiti Wars|publisher=Channel 4|accessdate=13 September 2011}}</ref>
== Political and social themes ==
[[File:Shop Until You Drop by Banksy.JPG|thumb|right|''Shop Until You Drop'' in Mayfair, London. Banksy has said "We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 204</ref>]]
Banksy once characterised graffiti as a form of underclass "revenge", or [[guerilla warfare]] that allows an individual to snatch away power, territory and glory from a bigger and better equipped enemy.<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy sees a social class component to this [[class struggle|struggle]], remarking "If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead."<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy's work has also shown a desire to mock centralised power, hoping that his work 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.<ref name = "HPBanksy" />
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]]. Additionally, the components of the [[human condition]] that his works commonly critique are [[greed]], poverty, [[hypocrisy]], [[boredom]], [[Despair (emotion)|despair]], [[absurdity]], and [[Social alienation|alienation]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Jonathon Keats |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2012/08/03/why-banksy-deserves-an-olympic-gold-more-than-usain-bolt/ |title=Why Banksy Deserves An Olympic Gold More Than Usain Bolt – Forbes |publisher=Forbes.com |date=3 August 2012 |accessdate=1 January 2013}}</ref> Although Banksy's works usually rely on visual imagery and iconography to put forth his message, he has made several politically related comments in his various books. In summarising his list of "people who should be shot," he listed "Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, (and) people who write lists telling you who should be shot."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 110</ref> While facetiously describing his political nature, Banksy declared that "Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world, I can't even finish my second apple pie."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 155</ref>
== Criticism ==
Peter Gibson, a spokesman for [[Keep Britain Tidy]], asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html |title=Banksy biography |work=Brian Sewell Art Directory (briansewell.com) |date=4 August 2005 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090215230943/http://briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html| archivedate= 15 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> and Diane Shakespeare, an official for the same organisation, was quoted as saying: "We are concerned that Banksy's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere" /> In his column for ''[[The Guardian]]'', satirist [[Charlie Brooker]] wrote of Banksy "...his work looks dazzlingly clever to idiots."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.visualarts |title=Supposing ... Subversive genius Banksy is actually rubbish |work=Charlie Brooker (guardian.co.uk) |date=22 September 2006 |accessdate=31 January 2011 |location=London}}</ref>
He has also been long criticised for copying the work of [[Blek le Rat]], who created the life-sized stencil technique in early 1980s Paris and used it to express a similar combination of political commentary and humorous imagery.<ref name=Coan /> Blek has praised Banksy for his contribution to urban art,<ref name=Coan /> but said in an interview for the documentary ''Graffiti Wars'' that some of Banksy's more derivative work makes him "angry", saying that "It's difficult to find a technique and style in art so when you have a style and you see someone else is taking it and reproducing it, you don't like that."<ref>{{cite news|author=Wells, Jeff|date=15 August 2011|title=Guerrilla artists at war over style accusations|newspaper=[[Western Daily Press]]|page=3}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
Banksy has [[self-published]] several books that contain photographs of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own writings:
* Banksy, ''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'' (2001) ISBN 978-0-9541704-0-0
* Banksy, ''Existencilism'' (2002) ISBN 978-0-9541704-1-7
* Banksy, ''Cut It Out'' (2004) ISBN 978-0-9544960-0-5
* Banksy, ''Wall and Piece'' (2005) ISBN 978-1-84413-786-2
* Banksy, ''Pictures of Walls'' (2005) ISBN 978-0-9551946-0-3
* Banksy, ''You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat'' (2012) ISBN 978-1908211088
[[Random House]] published ''Wall and Piece'' in 2005. It contains a combination of images from his three previous books, as well as some new material. The book was a best seller in the arts category for several years after its release.<ref>Tom Tivnan, [http://www.thebookseller.com/feature/art-matter.html ''Art of the matter''], The Book Seller, 8 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2011.</ref>
Books about his work, authored by others:
* Ulrich Blanché, ''Something to s(pr)ay: Der Street Artivist Banksy. Eine kunstwissenschaftliche Untersuchung'' (2010), ISBN 978-3-8288-2283-2
* Martin Bull, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Vfnk4ROcGIEC&printsec=frontcover ''Banksy Locations and Tours: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London''] (2006 – with new editions in 2007, 2008 and 2010), ISBN 978-0-9554712-4-7.
* Will Elsworth-Jones, ''Banksy, the Man behind the Wall'' (2012), ISBN 978-1-8451369-9-4.
* Paul Gough (ed), ''Banksy, the Bristol Legacy'' (2012), ISBN 978-1-906593-96-4.
* Steve Wright, ''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'', Tangent Books (2007), ISBN 978-1-906477-00-4
* {{Cite book|editor1-first=Mirko|editor1-last=Reisser|editor1-link=Mirko Reisser|editor2-first=Gerrit|editor2-last=Peters|editor3-first=Heiko|editor3-last=Zahlmann|title=Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|series=Urban Discipline: Graffiti-Art|volume=3|edition=1st|page=144|language=german|publisher=getting-up|location=Hamburg (Germany)|year=2002|ISBN=3-00-009421-0|url={{Google books|Kv6zGfMIIP8C|Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|page=|plainurl=yes}}}}
== See also ==
* [[@earth]]
* [[Blek le Rat]], one of the first graffiti artists in Paris. Has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti"
* [[King Robbo]], English, early underground graffiti artist who had a feud with Banksy, described in a documentary called [[Graffiti Wars]]
* [[Above (artist)|Above]], American, stencil artist with social and political themes.
* [[List of urban artists]]
* [[Street art]]
* [[Street installation]]
* [[Works by Banksy damaged or destroyed]]
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== External links ==
{{commons category|Banksy}}
{{wikiquote|Banksy}}
{{Prone to spam|date=February 2015}}
{{Z148}}<!-- {{No more links}}
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'''Official websites:'''
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.pestcontroloffice.com Pest Control] – official Banksy authentication
* [http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/Banksy/banksy.htm Banksy Street Art Photographs]
* [http://www.banksyunmasked.co.uk Gallery of Banksy photographs]
'''Databases:'''
* {{Discogs artist|Banksy}}
* {{IMDb name|2612991}}
'''Slideshows and galleries:'''
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/ Banksy Images] – from ''[[Flickr]]''
* [http://www.artnet.com/artist/424007326/banksy.html Banksy Works] – from ''[[Artnet]]''
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/banksy_gallery.shtml Banksy Gallery] – by ''[[BBC News]]''
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8096000/8096891.stm Banksy v Bristol Museum] – slideshow by ''[[BBC]]''
* [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/14983,news-comment,news-politics,banksy-in-pictures Banksy Under the Hammer] – slideshow by ''[[The First Post]]''
* [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/9757,news-comment,news-politics,banksy-on-the-west-bank Banksy on the West Bank] – slideshow by ''[[The First Post]]''
* [http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/05/14/slideshow_070514_banksy#slide=1 Banksy: In Plain Sight] – exhibition slideshow by ''[[The New Yorker]]''
* [http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/about-banksy/ Stencil Revolution About Banksy]
* [http://www.britishtours.com/360/banksy-one-nation-under-cctv/ Banksy's One Nation Under CCTV, Quicktime VR]
'''News items'''
* [http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=760586 "Police thwart attempt to steal Bethlehem Banksy mural", Ma'an News Agency, April 21, 2015]
{{Culture in Bristol}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata
| NAME = Banksy
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English graffiti artist, political activist and painter, whose identity is unconfirmed
| DATE OF BIRTH = c. between 1970 and 1975
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Bristol, England
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
[[Category:Banksy| ]]
[[Category:English graffiti artists]]
[[Category:Culture jamming]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Street artists]]
[[Category:Artists from Bristol]]
[[Category:English activists]]
[[Category:Anonymous artists]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous artists]]
[[Category:English film directors]]
[[Category:English anarchists]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English painters]]
[[Category:Guerilla artists]]
[[Category:Unidentified people]]
[[Category:Political artists]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox artist
| image =
| caption = <!-- The cover of Banksy's 2005 compilation,<br /> ''Wall and Piece''.-->
| name = Banksy
| birth_name = Real name: unknown<!-- Do not add without clear confirmation, read the article for past speculations on his name -->
| birth_date = Date of birth: unknown
| birth_place = Birthplace: unknown
| field = [[Graffiti]]<br /> [[Street art]]<br /> [[Bristol underground scene]]<br /> Sculpture<br /> Satire<br /> [[Social commentary]]
| training =
| awards = [[Toronto Film Critics Association Awards]] – Best First Feature 2010<br /> [[Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature]] <br /> [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association]] – Best Documentary Film 2010
}}
'''Banksy''' is a [[pseudonym]]ous English [[Street artist|graffiti artist]], political activist, film director, and painter.
His [[satirical]] [[street art]] and subversive [[epigrams]] combine [[dark humour]] with [[graffiti]] executed in a distinctive [[Stencil graffiti|stencilling]] technique. His works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.<ref>[http://weburbanist.com/2007/07/19/banksy-paradox-unofficial-guide-to-the-worlds-most-infamous-urban-guerilla-street-artist/ "The Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides to the World's Most Infamous Street Artist], 19 July 2007</ref>
Banksy's work grew out of the [[Bristol underground scene]], which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.<ref name="tel_banksy">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html|title=Banksy: off the wall – Telegraph|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |publisher=Telegraph Media Group|date=28 March 2008|accessdate=24 June 2009|last=Baker|first=Lindsay}}</ref> Observers have noted that his style is similar to [[Blek le Rat]], who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4066727.ece |location=London |work=The Times | first=Waldemar | last=Januszczak | title=Blek le Rat the man who gave birth to Banksy | date=8 June 2008}}</ref><ref name=Coan>{{cite news| url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/blek-le-rat-this-is-not-a-banksy-811130.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=Blek le Rat: This is not a Banksy |date=19 April 2008}}</ref> Banksy says that he was inspired by [[Robert Del Naja|"3D"]], a graffiti artist who later became a founding member of [[Massive Attack]], an English musical group.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20120103163406/http://www.banksy.co.uk/QA/qaa.html|archivedate=3 January 2012|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/QA/qaa.html|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=3 August 2013}} Statement does not appear in current URL, only archived URL.</ref>
Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy does not sell photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290|title=Banksy fans fail to bite at street art auction|work=meeja.com.au|date=30 September 2008|accessdate=30 September 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081016145044/http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290| archivedate= 16 October 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy's first film, ''[[Exit Through the Gift Shop]]'', billed as "the world's first street art [[disaster film|disaster movie]]", made its debut at the 2010 [[Sundance Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8471145.stm |title=Banksy film to debut at Sundance |work=BBC News |date=21 January 2010|accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> The film was released in the UK on 5 March 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kay|first=Jeremy|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/revolver-sets-march-5-uk-release-for-banksy-documentary/5010063.article |title=Revolver sets March 5 UK release for Banksy documentary , News , Screen|work=creendaily.com|date=26 January 2010|accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> In January 2011, he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary]] for the film. In 2014, he was awarded Person of the Year at the [[2014 Webby Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webbyawards.com/winners/2014/special-achievement/webby-person-of-the-year/banksy|title=2014 Webby Awards Person of the Year |publisher=Webbyawards.com |date= |accessdate=2014-05-30}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Early career (1992–2001) ===
Banksy began as a freehand graffiti artist in 1990–1994<ref name="WrightHome32">{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Steve |author2=Richard Jones |author3=Trevor Wyatt|title=Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home |publisher=Tangent Books |location=Bath |date=28 November 2007 |page=32 |isbn=978-1-906477-00-4}}</ref> as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with Kato and Tes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graffiti.org/dj/n-igma3/uk1.html|title=N-Igma fanzine showing examples of DBZ Graffiti tagged by Banksy, Kato and Tes|date=April 1999}}</ref> He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger [[Bristol underground scene]] with [[Nick Walker (artist)|Nick Walker]], [[Inkie]] and [[Robert Del Naja|3D]].<ref name="bbc street art show comes to Bristol">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_7879000/7879064.stm | title=Street art show comes to Bristol |work=BBC News | date=9 February 2009 | accessdate=31 August 2011 | quote=Street art [...] erupted in the UK in the early 1980s [...] active on the Bristol scene at that time included Banksy, Nick Walker, Inkie and Robert del Naja, or '3D', of Massive Attack.}}</ref><ref name="sky banksy art auctions">{{cite news | url=http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/1304043 | title=Banksy Hits Out at Street Art Auctions | work=[[Sky News]] | date=6 February 2008 | accessdate=31 August 2011 | author=Reid, Julia | location=London | quote=Along with Banksy, Bristol's graffiti heritage includes 3D, who went on to form Massive Attack, Inkie, and one of the original stencil artists Nick Walker.}}</ref> During this time he met Bristol photographer [[Steve Lazarides]], who began selling Banksy's work, later becoming his agent.<ref name="FT urban renewal">{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2e9b2d04-2a62-11e0-804a-00144feab49a.html#axzz2jiwdyr7H | title=Urban Renewal: Steve Lazarides continues to expand his street art empire | work=[[Financial Times]] | date=28 January 2011 | accessdate=4 November 2013 | author=Child, Andrew | location=London | quote=He had discovered Banksy on a chance photo shoot in Bristol in 2001 while working as picture editor of Sleaze Nation magazine, and brought him to public attention along with a roster of other urban artists... Lazarides and Banksy parted company in 2009, a mysterious split about which both parties have remained tight-lipped.}}</ref> From the start Banksy used stencils as elements of his freehand pieces, too.<ref name="WrightHome32" /> By 2000 he had turned to the art of [[stencil]]ling after realising how much less time it took to complete a work. He claims he changed to stencilling while he was hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number<ref name="wallandpiece">{{cite book |last=Banksy |title=Wall and Piece |publisher=[[Random House]] |url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |accessdate=19 September 2006 |year=2005| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060928183419/http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/| archivedate= 28 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London.<ref name="wallandpiece" /> He played football with the [[Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls]] in the 1990s and toured with the club to Mexico in 2001.<ref name="bbc onyangaomara 2012">{{cite news|last=Onyanga-Omara|first=Jane|title=Banksy in goal: The story of the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-19410566|accessdate=14 September 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=14 September 2012}}</ref> Banksy's first known large wall mural was "The Mild Mild West" painted in 1997 to cover advertising of a former solicitors' office on Stokes Croft Avenue, Bristol. It depicts a [[teddy bear]] lobbing a [[Molotov cocktail]] at three [[riot police]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/gallery/photo/mild-mild-west-banksy |title=Banksy's mild mild west piece, Stokes Croft, Bristol |publisher=Bristol-street-art.co.uk |date=2008-11-27 |accessdate=2014-04-30}}</ref>
[[File:Banksy.on.the.thekla.arp.jpg|thumb|right|Stencil on the waterline of [[Old Profanity Showboat (Thekla)|The Thekla]], an entertainment boat in central [[Bristol]] – ([[:File:Thekla.in.bristol.arp.jpg|wider view]]). The image of [[Death (personification)|Death]] is based on a nineteenth-century etching illustrating the [[Infectious disease|pestilence]] of [[Great Stink|The Great Stink]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/social_conditions/victorian_urban_planning_01.shtml |title=London's 'Great Stink' and Victorian Urban Planning |first=Martin |last=Daunton |work=BBC News |date=4 November 2004|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090105192054/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/social_conditions/victorian_urban_planning_01.shtml| archivedate= 5 January 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>]]
Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. Subjects often include [[rat]]s, [[ape]]s, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.
In July 2011 one of Banksy's early works, ''Gorilla in a Pink Mask'', which had been a prominent landmark on the exterior wall of a former social club in [[Eastville, Bristol|Eastville]] for over ten years, was unwittingly painted over after the premises became a Muslim cultural centre.<ref>{{cite news|title=Whitewashed Banksy restoration 'could cost thousands'|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547|accessdate=15 July 2011|newspaper=BBC|date=15 July 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110720081140/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547| archivedate= 20 July 2011 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bates|first=Stephen|title=Banksy's Gorilla in a Pink Mask is painted over|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over|accessdate=15 July 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 July 2011|location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110716223702/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over| archivedate= 16 July 2011 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
=== Exhibitions (2002–2003) ===
On 19 June 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles exhibition debuted at 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, a tiny Silver Lake venue owned by Frank Sosa. The exhibition, entitled ''Existencilism'', was curated by 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, Malathion LA's Chris Vargas, Funk Lazy Promotions' Grace Jehan, and B+.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm |title=Banksy Existencilism Book |work=Art of the State|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090204070348/http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm| archivedate= 4 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
In 2003, at an exhibition called ''Turf War'', held in a London warehouse, Banksy painted on animals. At the time he gave one of his very few interviews, to the BBC's [[Nigel Wrench]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Banksy's Bristol|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/05/27/banksy_interviews_feature.shtml|website=BBC Bristol|publisher=BBC|accessdate=11 March 2015}}</ref> Although the [[RSPCA]] declared the conditions suitable, an animal rights activist chained herself to the railings in protest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm |title=Animals sprayed by graffiti artist |work=BBC News |date=18 July 2003 |accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061005173441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm| archivedate= 5 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> An example of his [[Subversion (politics)|subverted]] paintings is [[Monet]]'s ''Water Lily Pond'', adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a [[shopping trolley]] floating in its reflective waters; another is [[Edward Hopper]]'s ''[[Nighthawks]]'', redrawn to show that the characters are looking at a British football hooligan, dressed only in his [[Union Flag]] underpants, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the cafe. These oil paintings were shown at a twelve-day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/banksy_show_tonight_in_london.html |title = Banksy Show Tonight in London |date = 13 October 2005 |accessdate =19 September 2006}}</ref>
[[File:banksy-art.jpg|thumb|Banksy art in [[Brick Lane]], [[East End]], 2004.]]
Banksy, along with [[Shepard Fairey]], Dmote and others created work at a warehouse exhibition in Alexandria, Sydney for Semi-Permanent in 2003. Approximately 1,500 people attended.
=== £10 notes to ''Barely Legal'' (2004–2006) ===
In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of the Queen's head with [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]'s head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at Notting Hill Carnival that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops. These notes were also given with invitations to a Santa's Ghetto exhibition by Pictures on Walls. The individual notes have since been selling on [[eBay]] for about £200 each. A wad of the notes were also thrown over a fence and into the crowd near the NME signing tent at The Reading Festival. A limited run of 50 signed posters containing ten uncut notes were also produced and sold by Pictures on Walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in October 2007 at [[Bonhams]] auction house in London for £24,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy print donated to Bristol arts venue, The Cube|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-24701608|agency=BBC|date=20 May 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Banksy Hitchhiker to Anywhere Archway 2005.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A stencil of [[Charles Manson]] in a prison suit, hitchhiking to anywhere, [[Archway, London]]]]
In August 2005, Banksy, on a trip to the Palestinian territories, created nine images on the [[Israeli West Bank barrier|Israeli West Bank wall]].<ref name="JonesIsrael">{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Jones |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1543171,00.html |title=Spray can prankster tackles Israel's security barrier |date=5 August 2005 |work=The Guardian |location=London |accessdate=19 September 2006 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061004133921/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,11711,1543171,00.html| archivedate= 4 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
Banksy held an exhibition called ''Barely Legal'', billed as a "three-day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles, on the weekend of 16 September 2006. The exhibition featured a live "[[elephant in the room|elephant in a room]]," painted in a pink and gold floral wallpaper pattern, which, according to leaflets handed out at the exhibition, was intended to draw attention to the issue of world poverty. Although the Animal Services Department had issued a permit for the elephant, after complaints from [[animal rights]] activists, the elephant appeared unpainted on the final day. Its owners rejected claims of mistreatment and said that the elephant had done "many, many movies. She's used to makeup."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/sep/18/arts.artsnews |title=Banksy's painted elephant is illegal, say officials |author=Oliver, Mark |date=18 September 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |accessdate=20 April 2011 }}</ref> Banksy also made artwork displaying Queen Victoria as a lesbian and satirical pieces that incorporated art made by Andy Warhol and Leonardo da Vinci.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm | title='Guerrilla artist' Banksy hits LA |publisher=BBC News | date=14 September 2006 | accessdate=19 September 2006 | first=Peter | last=Bowes}}</ref>
=== The Banksy effect (2006–2007) ===
{{Quote box
| quote = "There are crimes that become innocent and even glorious through their splendour, number and excess."
| source = Banksy<ref name = "HPBanksy">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/banksy-graffiti-book_n_1827644.html?view=print&comm_ref=false Banksy Graffiti: A Book About The Thinking Street Artist] by ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', 30 August 2012</ref>
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After [[Christina Aguilera]] bought an original of [[Queen Victoria]] as a lesbian and two prints for £25,000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece|title=Aguilera invests £25,000 in Banksy |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=6 April 2006 |accessdate=20 October 2006 | first=Matthew | last=Beard| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060907055717/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece| archivedate= 7 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref> on 19 October 2006, a set of [[Kate Moss]] paintings sold in [[Sotheby's]] London for £50,400, setting an auction record for Banksy's work. The six silk-screen prints, featuring the model painted in the style of [[Andy Warhol]]'s [[Marilyn Monroe]] pictures, sold for five times their estimated value. His stencil of a green [[Mona Lisa]] with real paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at the same auction.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069384.stm|title=Banksy works set auction record |work=BBC News |date=20 October 2006 |accessdate=20 October 2006}}</ref>
In December, journalist [[Max Foster]] coined the phrase, "the Banksy effect," to illustrate how interest in other street artists was growing on the back of Banksy's success.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/04/ywt.01.html |title=Your World Toady (Transcript) |publisher=CNN |date=4 December 2006 | accessdate=26 April 2010}} "Banksy Effect" mentioned near end.</ref>
[[File:Banksy-ps.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Naked Man image by Banksy, on the wall of a sexual health clinic<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5346822.stm |title=UK , Magazine , Faces of the week |work=BBC News |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=12 April 2010}}</ref> in [[Park Street, Bristol]]. Following popular support, the City Council has decided it will be allowed to remain – ([[:File:banksy.in.bristols.park.street.longshot.arp.jpg|wider view]]).]]
On 21 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in London auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for his ''Bombing Middle England''. Two of his other graffiti works, ''Balloon Girl'' and ''Bomb Hugger'', sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0710535520070207|title=British graffiti artist joins elite in record sale|agency=Reuters |date=7 February 2007|accessdate=8 November 2008}}</ref> The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices: ''Ballerina with Action Man Parts'' reached £96,000; ''Glory'' sold for £72,000; ''Untitled (2004)'' sold for £33,600; all significantly above estimated values.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html |title=Sotheby's makes a killing from Banksy's guerrilla artworks |first=Geneviève |last=Roberts |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=19 January 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090221123459/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html| archivedate= 21 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere">{{cite web|last=Collins |first=Lauren |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all |title=Banksy Was Here: The invisible man of graffiti art |work=The New Yorker |date=14 May 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081230190402/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all| archivedate= 30 December 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
In February 2007, the owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in [[Bristol]] decided to sell the house through Red Propeller art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural that comes with a house attached.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm |title=Free house as part of mural sale |work=BBC News |date=12 February 2007 |accessdate=12 February 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070213055359/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm| archivedate= 13 February 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In 2008, Nathan Wellard and Maev Neal, a couple from Norfolk, UK, made headlines in Britain when they decided to sell their mobile home that contains a 30-foot mural, entitled Fragile Silence, done by Banksy a decade prior to his rise to fame. According to Nathan Wellard, Banksy had asked the couple if he could use the side of their home as a "large canvas," to which they agreed. In return for the "canvas", the Bristol stencil artist gave them two free tickets to the Glastonbury Music Festival. The mobile home purchased by the couple 11 years ago for 1,000 GBP, is now being sold for 500,000 GBP.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mobile 'art house' for sale|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7433882.stm|publisher=BBC News | date=3 June 2008}}</ref>
In April 2007, [[Transport for London]] painted over Banksy's iconic image of a scene from the [[Quentin Tarantino]] film ''[[Pulp Fiction (Banksy)|Pulp Fiction]]'', featuring [[Samuel L. Jackson]] and [[John Travolta]] clutching bananas instead of guns.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-449525/Why-Banksys-fans-going-bananas.html|title=Why Banksy's fans are going bananas|last=Newling|first=Dan|date=19 April 2007|work=[[Daily Mail]]|publisher=[[DMG Media]]|accessdate=5 February 2015}}</ref> Although the image was very popular, [[Transport for London]] claimed that the "graffiti" created "a general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime" and their staff are "professional cleaners not professional art critics."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm |title=Iconic Banksy image painted over |work=BBC News |date=20 April 2007 |accessdate=20 April 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070525234557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm| archivedate= 25 May 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy tagged the same site again and, initially, the actors were portrayed as holding real guns instead of bananas, but they were adorned with banana costumes. Some time later, Banksy made a tribute artwork over this second ''Pulp Fiction'' work. The tribute was for 19-year-old British graffiti artist Ozone who, along with fellow artist Wants, was hit by an underground train in [[Barking]], East London on 12 January 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/20/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title=Blood on the tracks |first=Esther |last=Addley |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 January 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009 }}</ref> Banksy depicted an angel wearing a bullet-proof vest holding a skull (pictured below left). He also wrote a note on his website saying:
<blockquote>''The last time I hit this spot I painted a crap picture of two men in banana costumes waving hand guns. A few weeks later a writer called Ozone completely dogged it and then wrote 'If it's better next time I'll leave it' in the bottom corner. When we lost Ozone we lost a fearless graffiti writer and as it turns out a pretty perceptive art critic. Ozone – rest in peace.''<ref>{{cite book|last=Bull|first=Martin|title=Banksy Locations & Tours: A collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London, England|year=2011|publisher=PM Press|isbn=978-1-60486-320-8}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Ozone's Angel.jpg|thumb|left|''Ozone's Angel'']]
On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work ''Space Girl & Bird'' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000) around 20 times the estimate at [[Bonhams]] of London.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425 |title=Reuters UK: Elusive artist Banksy sets record price |publisher=Uk.reuters.com |date=25 April 2007 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081230165901/http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425| archivedate= 30 December 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's [[Greatest Britons|Greatest living Briton]]. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award and continued with his notoriously anonymous status.
On 4 June 2007, it was reported that Banksy's ''The Drinker'' had been stolen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy Statue Stolen |url=http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html |work=[[Stranger (magazine)|Stranger]] |accessdate=4 June 2007| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070608161006/http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html| archivedate= 8 June 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1184233,00.html |title=But is it kidnap?|first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=2 April 2004 |accessdate=15 June 2008 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080625121937/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1184233,00.html| archivedate= 25 June 2008 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In October 2007, most of his works offered for sale at [[Bonhams]] auction house in London sold for more than twice their reserve price.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0,,30100-1289548,00.html ''Guerilla Artist,''] Sky News, 24 October 2007</ref>
[[File:Banksyglasto.JPG|thumb|Banksy's "Stonehenge" from portable toilets at the [[Glastonbury Festival]], June 2007]]
Banksy has published a "[[manifesto]]" on his website.<ref name=manifesto>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050119032828/http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archivedate=19 January 2005|title=Camp}}</ref> The text of the manifesto is credited as the diary entry of one [[Lieutenant Colonel]] Mervin Willett Gonin, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], which is exhibited in the [[Imperial War Museum]]. It describes how a shipment of lipstick to the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen-Belsen]] [[concentration camp]] immediately after its liberation at the end of World War II helped the internees regain their humanity. However, as of 18 January 2008, Banksy's Manifesto has been substituted with Graffiti Heroes No.03 that describes Peter Chappell's graffiti quest of the 1970s that worked to free [[George Davis (armed robber)|George Davis]] of his imprisonment.<ref name=manifesto /> By 12 August 2009 he was relying on [[Emo Philips]]' "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn't work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness."
A small number of Banksy's works can be seen in the movie ''[[Children of Men]]'', including a stenciled image of two policemen kissing and another stencil of a child looking down a shop.
Banksy, who "is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his work second hand (including Lazarides Ltd, Andipa Gallery, Bank Robber, Dreweatts etc.),"<ref>{{cite web |title= A message from Banksy's lawyer |url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html |accessdate=28 October 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101026144455/http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html| archivedate= 26 October 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> claims that the exhibition at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York City (his first major exhibition in that city) is unauthorised. The exhibition featured 62 of his paintings and prints.<ref>{{cite web |title= Banksy Pans His First New York Show |work=Artinfo |publisher=[[Louise Blouin Media]] |date=7 December 2007 |url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26312/banksy-pans-his-first-new-york-show/ |accessdate=16 April 2008}}</ref>
=== 2008 ===
[[File:Banksy Swinger Building Detail.jpg|thumb|left|Banksy "Swinger" in New Orleans]]
In March, a stencilled graffiti work appeared on [[Thames Water]] tower in the middle of the [[Holland Park Avenue|Holland Park roundabout]], and it was widely attributed to Banksy. It was of a child painting the tag "Take this—Society!" in bright orange. [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]] spokesman, Councillor Greg Smith branded the art as vandalism, and ordered its immediate removal, which was carried out by H&F council workmen within three days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080314012848/http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html|archivedate=14 March 2008|title=Banksy must have an Oyster card. He's gone west!|work=The London Paper|date=11 March 2008}}</ref>
[[File:No Loitering Banksy.jpg|thumb|Work on building in the [[Lower 9th Ward]] of New Orleans, August 2008]]
In late August 2008, marking the third anniversary of [[Hurricane Katrina]] and the associated [[2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans|levee failure disaster]], Banksy produced a series of works in New Orleans, Louisiana, mostly on buildings derelict since the disaster.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Banksy-Paints-Murals-In-New-Orleans-To-Mark-Hurricane-Katrina-Anniversary/Media-Gallery/200808415088995?lpos=World+News_0&lid=GALLERY_15088995_Banksy+Paints+Murals+In+New+Orleans+To+Mark+Hurricane+Katrina+Anniversary |title=Banksy Paints Murals in New Orleans To Mark Hurricane Katrina Anniversary; Gallery 'Banksy Art in Big Easy' |work=Sky News |date=28 August 2008}}</ref>
A stencil painting attributed to Banksy appeared at a vacant petrol station in the [[Ensley, Birmingham, Alabama|Ensley]] neighbourhood of [[Birmingham, Alabama]] on 29 August as [[Hurricane Gustav]] approached the New Orleans area. The painting, depicting a hooded member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] hanging from a noose, was quickly covered with black spray paint and later removed altogether.<ref name=WoosterCollective>[http://www.woostercollective.com/post/banksys-road-trip-continues-takes-on-the-kkk-in-birmingham-alabama Banksy's Road Trip Continues: Takes On The KKK In Birmingham, Alabama], Marc Schiller, ''[[Wooster Collective]]''</ref>
His first official exhibition in New York City, the "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill," opened 5 October 2008. The [[Audio-Animatronics|animatronic]] pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby [[Chicken McNuggets]] as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror.<ref name=NYOct2008>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/design/09publ.html | title=Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip | work=The New York Times | first=Melena | last=Ryzik | date=9 October 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Bansky one nation under cctv.jpg|thumb|left|''One nation under [[CCTV]]'', 2008 mural removed (painted over) in 2009.<ref name = SMHOct2008>{{cite news|url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/banksy-art-is-graffiti-rules-council/2008/10/24/1224351528852.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title = Banksy art is graffiti, rules town hall |date = 24 October 2008}}</ref>]]
The [[Westminster City Council]] stated in October 2008 that the work "One Nation Under [[Closed-circuit television|CCTV]]," painted in April 2008 would be painted over as it was graffiti. The council said it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy "has no more right to paint graffiti than a child." Robert Davis, the chairman of the council planning committee told ''The Times'' newspaper: "If we condone this then we might as well say that any kid with a spray can is producing art."<ref name = SMHOct2008 /> The work was painted over in April 2009.
In December 2008, The Little Diver, a Banksy image of a diver in a duffle coat in Melbourne Australia was destroyed. The image had been protected by a sheet of clear [[perspex]]; however, silver paint was poured behind the protective sheet and later tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere." The image was almost completely obliterated.<ref name = TheAgeDec2008>{{cite news|url = http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-melbourne-loses-its-treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html|work=The Age |location=Australia|title = The painter painted: Melbourne loses its treasured Banksy|date = 14 December 2008 | first=Janae | last=Houghton}}</ref>
==== The Cans Festival (2008) ====
In London, over the weekend 3–5 May 2008, Banksy hosted an exhibition called ''[[The Cans Festival]]''. It was situated on [[Leake Street]], a road tunnel formerly used by Eurostar underneath [[London Waterloo station]]. Graffiti artists with stencils were invited to join in and paint their own artwork, as long as it did not cover anyone else's.<ref>{{cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7377622.stm|title = Tunnel becomes Banksy art exhibit|date = 2 May 2008|work=BBC News | accessdate=5 January 2010}}</ref>
Banksy invited thirty-nine artists from around the world, including [[Sten Lex]], [[Bsas Stencil]], [[Prism (street artist)|Prism]], [[Roadsworth (artist)|Roadsworth]], [[Blek le Rat|Blek]], C215, [[The Dotmasters|Dotmasters]], [[Hero (artist)|Hero]], [[Sadhu (artist)|Sadhu]], [[Lucamaleonte (artist)|Lucamaleonte]], [[Faile (artist)|Faile]], [[Logan Hicks]], [[Btoy]], [[Vhils (artists)|Vhils]], [[Vexta]] and [[John Grider (artists)|John Grider]] exhibited their works in an abandoned tunnel near Leake Street in South East London.<ref>{{cite news | title = Banksy Hosts The Cans Festival | url = http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php | publisher = Cool Hunting | date = 6 May 2008|accessdate=17 May 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080511184925/http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php| archivedate= 11 May 2008| deadurl= no}}</ref>
=== 2009 ===
[[File:Banksy Bristol Queues.jpg|thumb|Queues for the Banksy vs Bristol Museum Show in [[Bristol]], June 2009]]
[[File:King Robbo.jpg|thumb|The location of the damaged 1985 graffiti by [[King Robbo|Robbo]] in Camden, London allegedly painted over by Banksy and subsequently painted over by Robbo in retaliation.]]
In May 2009, Banksy parted company with agent [[Steve Lazarides]] and announced that Pest Control,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pestcontroloffice.com/whatispco.html |title=What is Pest Control? |publisher=Pest Control Office|accessdate=23 May 2009}}</ref> the handling service who act on his behalf, would be the only point of sale for new works.
On 13 June 2009, the Banksy vs Bristol Museum show opened at [[Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery]], featuring more than 100 works of art, including animatronics and installations; it is his largest exhibition yet, featuring 78 new works.<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy's homecoming reviewed |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=12 June 2009 |accessdate=14 June 2009 |last=Cafe
|first=Rebecca | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090615142841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm| archivedate= 15 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum|title=Take a stuffy old institution. Remix. Add wit. It's Banksy v the museum|last=Sawyer|first=Miranda|date=13 June 2009|work=The Guardian |location=London |publisher=Guardian News and Media|accessdate=13 June 2009 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090615161052/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum| archivedate= 15 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Reaction to the show was positive, with over 8,500 visitors to the show on the first weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html |title=Thousands flock to Banksy show in Bristol|date=15 June 2009 |work=Bristol Evening Post |publisher=Bristol News and Media |accessdate=15 June 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090618140338/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html| archivedate= 18 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Over the course of the twelve weeks, the exhibition was visited over 300,000 times.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy art show draws in 300,000 |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=31 August 2009 |accessdate=31 August 2009 | first=Rebecca | last=Cafe}}</ref>
In September 2009, a Banksy work parodying the Royal Family was partially destroyed by Hackney Council after they served an enforcement notice for graffiti removal to the former address of the property owner. The mural had been commissioned for the 2003 [[Blur (band)|Blur]] single "[[Crazy Beat]]" and the property owner, who had allowed it to be painted, was reported to have been in tears when she saw it was being painted over.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8238896.stm |title=Blur Banksy is ruined by mistake |publisher=BBC News |date=5 September 2009 |accessdate=5 September 2009}}</ref>
In December 2009, Banksy marked the end of the [[2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference]] by painting four murals on global warming. One included the phrase, "I don't believe in global warming;" the words were submerged in water.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8425397.stm Banksy art tackles global warming]. ''BBC News''. 21 December 2009.</ref>
A feud and graffiti war between Banksy and [[King Robbo]] broke out when Banksy allegedly painted over one of Robbo's tags. The feud has led to many of Banksy's works being altered by graffiti writers.<ref name="indy">{{cite web|url=http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/my-graffiti-war-with-banksy-by-king-robbo/|title=My Graffiti War with Banksy By King Robbo|author=Fuertes-Knight, Jo |publisher=Sabotage Times
}}</ref>
=== ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' (2010) ===
The world premiere of the film ''[[Exit Through the Gift Shop]]'' occurred at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in [[Park City, Utah]], on 24 January. He created 10 street artworks around Park City and [[Salt Lake City]] to tie in with the screening.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14232591 |title=Famous 'tagger' Banksy strikes in Utah |first=Sean P. |last=Means| work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=21 January 2010 |accessdate=21 January 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100124082724/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14232591| archivedate= 24 January 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In February, [[The Whitehouse (pub)|The Whitehouse]] public house in [[Liverpool]], England, was sold for £114,000 at auction. The side of the building has an image of a giant rat by Banksy.<ref name="liverpooldailypost">{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/02/18/liverpool-banksy-rat-pub-building-sold-for-114-000-at-auction-100252-25864205/ |title=Liverpool Banksy rat pub building sold for £114,000 at auction |date=18 February 2010|work=The Liverpool Daily Post|author=Sharpe, Laura }}</ref>
In March 2010, the work "Forgive us our Trespassing" was displayed at the [[London Bridge]] in conjunction with [[Art Below]] an arts company that put on art shows on the [[London Underground]]. The work was censored by the [[Transport for London]] (TfL), forbidding display of the work with its halo, because of the prevalence of graffiti in the underground.<ref name="BBCBanksy">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8573323.stm |title=London Underground Banksy work regains its halo |work=BBC News |date=17 March 2010 |accessdate=25 December 2011}}</ref> It was displayed without the halo over the boy's head, but after a few days the halo was repainted by a graffitist, so the TfL disposed of the poster. This decline went through the press and several articles were published remarking on the progress of the poster.<ref name="BBCBanksy"/><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23816233-underground-mystery-as-banksy-work-regains-its-halo.do
|title=Underground mystery as Banksy work regains its halo
|work=London Evening Standard
|publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk
|date= 17 March 2010
|accessdate=25 December 2011
}}</ref>
{{Quote box|width=27%|align=left|quote="Banksy paints over the line between aesthetics and language, then stealthily repaints it in the unlikeliest of places. His works, whether he stencils them on the streets, sells them in exhibitions or hangs them in museums on the sly, are filled with wit and metaphors that transcend language barriers."|source=—[[Shepard Fairey]] writing for ''Time'' on Banksy's entry in the [[Time 100]] list, April 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fairy|first1=Shephard|title=Time 100: Banksy|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1984945,00.html|agency=Time|issue=20 May 2015|date=29 April 2010}}</ref>}}
In April, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in San Francisco, five of his works appeared in various parts of the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| title=Street Artist Banksy Marks the Mission |accessdate=27 April 2010|work=The San Francisco Chronicle | date=23 April 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100428215041/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| archivedate= 28 April 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Banksy reportedly paid a [[Chinatown, San Francisco|San Francisco Chinatown]] building owner $50 for the use of their wall for one of his stencils.<ref>[http://sfluxe.com/2010/04/24/banksy-in-san-francisco/ Banksy in San Francisco | San Francisco Luxury Living]. Sfluxe.com (24 April 2010). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref>
In early May 2010, seven new Banksy works of art appeared in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| title=Banksy comes to Toronto |accessdate=9 May 2010|work=Torontoist| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100512044227/http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| archivedate= 12 May 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> though most have been subsequently painted over or removed.
In May, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in Royal Oak, Banksy visited the Detroit area and left his mark in several places in Detroit and Warren.<ref name="Wright-2010">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2010/05/mt-exclusive-banksy-leaves-a-rat-in-warren-and-a-diamond-in-detroit | title=Banksy Leaves a Rat in Warren and a Diamond in Detroit | author=Travis R Wright | date=10 May 2010 | accessdate=14 March 2011 | publisher=Metro Times blogs}}</ref> Shortly after, his work depicting a little boy holding a can of red paint next to the words "I remember when all this was trees" was excavated by the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios. They claim that they do not intend to sell the work but plan to preserve it and display it at their Detroit gallery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/100514077/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-leaves-mark-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm|title=Graffiti artist Banksy leaves mark on Detroit and ignites firestorm|author=Mark Stryker}}</ref> There was also an attempted removal of one of the Warren works known as "Diamond Girl."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.detroitmoxie.com/home/2010/5/12/street-artist-banksy-tags-detroit.html|date=12 May 2010|work=Detroit Moxie|title=Street Artist Banksy Tags Detroit|author=Becks Davis}}</ref>
In late January 2011, ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110711102803/http://oscar.go.com/nominations/category/documentary-feature/synopsis/exit-through-the-gift-shop/687163 Banksy nominated for Oscar]. Oscar.go.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Banksy released a statement about the nomination, where he said, "This is a big surprise... I don't agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I'm prepared to make an exception for the ones I'm nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me."<ref>[http://www.nme.com/movies/news/banksy-welcomes-oscar-nomination-for-exit-through-the-gift-shop/203819 Banksy statement to Oscar nomination]. Nme.com (27 January 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Leading up to the Oscars, Banksy blanketed Los Angeles with street art. Many people speculated if Banksy would show up at the Oscars in disguise and make a surprise appearance if he won the Oscar. ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' did not win the award, which went to ''[[Inside Job (2010 film)|Inside Job]]''. In early March 2011, Banksy responded to the Oscars with an artwork in Weston, UK, of a little girl holding the Oscar and pouting. Many people think that it is in reference to 15-month-old Lara, who dropped and damaged her father's (''The King's Speech'' co-producer Simon Egan) Oscar statue.<ref>[http://swns.com/banksy-pays-tribute-to-oscar-dropping-child-with-new-artwork-091535.html Banksy responds to Oscars]. Swns.com (9 March 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was broadcast on British public television station [[Channel 4]] on 13 August 2011.
Banksy was also credited with the opening [[couch gag]] for the 2010 ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[MoneyBart]]," depicting people working in deplorable conditions and using endangered or mythical animals to make both the episodes cel-by-cel and the merchandise connected with the program.<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513 |title= Banksy creates new Simpsons title sequence|accessdate=12 October 2010|work=BBC News | date=11 October 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101012045931/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513| archivedate= 12 October 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> His name appears several times throughout the episode's opening sequence, spray-painted on assorted walls and signs. Fox sanitised parts of the opening "for taste" and to make it less grim. In January 2011, Banksy published the original storyboard on its website.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110126164711/http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/simp.html Original Storyboard] from banksy.co.uk, archived at web.archive.org</ref> According to Banksy, the storyboard "led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walk out by the animation department." Executive director [[Al Jean]] jokingly said, "This is what you get when you outsource."<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010" />
=== 2011 ===
In May 2011 Banksy released a lithographic print which showed a smoking [[petrol bomb]] contained in a 'Tesco Value' bottle. This followed a long running campaign by locals against the opening of a Tesco Express supermarket in Banksy's home city of Bristol. Violent clashes had taken place between police and demonstrators in the Stokes Croft area. Banksy produced the poster ostensibly to raise money for local groups in the Stokes Croft area and to raise money for the legal defence of those arrested during the riots. The posters were sold exclusively at the Bristol Anarchists Bookfair in Stokes Croft for £5 each.
In December, he unveiled "Cardinal Sin" at the [[Walker Art Gallery]], Liverpool. The bust, which replaces a priest's face with a "pixelated" effect, was a statement on the [[child abuse]] scandal in the Catholic Church.<ref name="BBCNews15Dec2011">{{cite news| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16184773 |work=BBC News | title=Banksy unveils church abuse work | date=15 December 2011}}</ref>
=== 2012 ===
In May his [[Parachuting Rat]], painted in [[Melbourne]] in the late 1990s, was accidentally destroyed by plumbers installing new pipes.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 Banksy rat destroyed by builders – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)]. Abc.net.au (16 May 2012). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref>
In July, prior to the [[2012 Olympic Games]] Banksy posted photographs of paintings with an Olympic theme on his website but did not disclose their location.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18946654 London 2012: Banksy and street artists' Olympic graffiti]. bbc.co.uk (24 July 2012).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/0/48809/Arts--Culture/0/British-Grafitti-artist-Banksy-in-Olympics-controv.aspx/ |title=British Grafitti artist Banksy in Olympics controversy |publisher=English.ahram.org.eg |date=2012-07-27 |accessdate=2014-04-30}}</ref>
=== 2013 ===
On 18 February, BBC News reported that a recent Banksy mural, known as the [[Slave Labour (mural)|Slave Labour mural]] portraying a young child sewing [[Union Flag]] bunting (created around the time of the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II]]) had been removed from the side of a [[Poundland]] store in Wood Green, north London, and soon appeared for sale in Fine Art Auctions Miami's catalogue (a US auction site based in Florida). News of this has reportedly caused "lots of anger" in the local community and is considered by some to be a theft. Fine Art Auctions Miami has rejected claims of theft, saying it had signed a contract with a "well-known collector" and that "everything was above board"; despite this, the local Councillor for Wood Green is campaigning for the work's return.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261 Banksy mural vanishes from London, appears at US auction] bbc.co.uk/news (18 February 2013). Retrieved 18 February 2013.</ref>
On the scheduled day of the auction, Fine Art Auctions Miami announced that it had withdrawn the work of art from the sale.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21562042 Taken Banksy is withdrawn from sale] bbc.co.uk/news (24 February 2013). Retrieved 3 January 2014.</ref>
On 11 May, BBC News reports that the same Banksy mural is up for auction again in Covent Garden by the Sincura Group. The auction is scheduled to take place in June. It is expected to fetch up to £450,000.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22492378 Banksy Slave Labour mural up for auction again] bbc.co.uk/news (11 May 2013). Retrieved 3 January 2014.</ref> On 24 September, after over a year since his previous piece, a new Banksy mural went up on his website along with the subtitle 'Better Out Than In'.
==== ''Better Out Than In'' (2013) ====
{{main|Better Out Than In}}
On 1 October, Banksy began a one-month "show on the streets of [[New York City|New York [City]]]", for which he opened a separate website<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/ |title=Better Out Than In |publisher=Banksy.co.uk |date=13 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> and granted an interview to ''[[The Village Voice]]'' via his publicist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hamilton|first= Keegan |title=An Interview With Banksy, Street Art Cult Hero, International Man of Mystery |publisher= The Village Voice |date= 9 October 2013 |url= http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-10-09/art/banksy-better-out-than-in-new-york-residency-street-art-graffiti/3}}</ref>
A pop-up boutique of about 25 spray-art canvases appeared on [[Fifth Avenue]] near [[Central Park]] on 12 October. Tourists were able to buy Banksy art for just $60 each. In a note posted to his website, the artist wrote: "Please note this was a one-off. The stall will not be there again." The BBC estimated that the street-stall art pieces could be worth as much as $31,000. The booth was manned by an unknown elderly man who went about four hours before making a sale, yawning and eating lunch as people strolled by without a second glance at the work. Banksy chronicled the surprise sale in a video posted to his website noting, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24518315 |title=BBC News – Banksy stall sells art works for $60 in New York |publisher=BBC |date= 14 October 2013|accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-20562101 |title=Banksy: I Sold Original Artwork for $60 in NYC – ABC News |publisher=ABC News |date= |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/living/banksy-street-art-sale/?hpt=hp_c3 |title=Graffiti artist Banksy says he offered $60 paintings in Central Park — CNN.com |publisher=CNN |date=14 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> Two of the canvasses sold at a July 2014 auction for $214,000.<ref>http://animalnewyork.com/2014/two-banksys-central-park-spray-art-canvases-sell-214000-auction/</ref>
It was reported that then-[[New York City Mayor]] [[Michael Bloomberg]] called Banksy a vandal whose work is not the definition of art, and that the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]]'s vandal squad was on the hunt for Banksy over his various graffiti art and [[Street installation|installations]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Jeane MacIntosh, Larry Celona and Bruce Golding |url=http://nypost.com/2013/10/16/banksy-clowns-around-in-new-work/ |title=Banksy zings McDonald's | New York Post |publisher=New York Post |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/16/bloomberg-bashes-banksys-street-art/ |title=Michael Bloomberg: Banksy's Graffiti 'Not My Definition Of Art' « CBS New York |publisher=CBS Local |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Semuels |first=Alana |url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-banksy-new-york-20131016,0,4869299.story?track=rss |title=New Yorkers hustle to catch Banksy street art |publisher=Los Angeles Time |date= 17 October 2013|accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref> One creation was a fiberglass sculpture of [[Ronald McDonald]] and a real person, barefoot and in ragged clothes, shining the oversized shoes of Ronald McDonald. The sculpture was unveiled in [[Queens]] but moved outside a different [[McDonald's]] around the city every day.<ref>{{cite web|last=Grant |first=Drew |url=http://observer.com/2013/10/banksys-ronald-mcdonald-statue-and-live-shoeshine-boy-take-manhattan/ |title=Banksy Unveils 'Shoeshine Boy' at McDonald's | The New York Observer |publisher=The New York Observer |date=16 October 2013 |accessdate=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-attacks-mcdonalds-in-new-sculpture-8887022.html |title=Banksy attacks McDonald's in new sculpture |author=Liam O'Brien |date=17 October 2013 |work= The Independent |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/jonathanjonesblog/2013/oct/17/banksy-mcdonalds-new-york |title=Banksy gives Ronald McDonald's clown shoes a shine |author=Jonathan Jones |work= The Guardian |date=17 October 2013}}</ref> Other works included a YouTube video showing what appears to be footage of jihadist militants shooting down an animated [[Dumbo the Elephant]]; travelling installations that toured the city including a slaughterhouse delivery truck full of stuffed animals and a waterfall; and a modified painting donated to a charity shop which was later sold in an online auction for $615,000.<ref name=cnn>{{cite news |url= http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-banksy-residency-ends/|title=Banksy bids farewell to New York with balloons |author= Chris Boyette |work= CNN |date=1 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/banksy-donates-nazi-doctored-landscape-to-help-aids-group.html |title=Banksy's Nazi-Doctored Painting Raises $615,000 Online |author= Katya Kazakina |date=1 November 2013 |work=Blomberg }}</ref> Banksy also posted a mock-up of a ''[[New York Times]]'' [[op-ed]] attacking the design of the [[One World Trade Center]] after the ''Times'' rejected his submission.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/banksy-one-world-trade-center_n_4169568.html |title=Banksy Bashes One World Trade Center In Rejected New York Times Op-Ed |work=Huffington Post |date=28 October 2013 |first=Inae |last=Oh}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Banksy rips New York Times for rejected op-ed |url=http://nypost.com/2013/10/27/banksy-rips-new-york-times-for-rejected-op-ed/ |work=New York Post |author=Leonard Greene|date=27 October 2013}}</ref> The residency in New York concluded on 31 October 2013,<ref name=cnn/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10353135/Banksy-in-New-York-pictures.html |title=Banksy in New York pictures |work=The Telegraph | location=London |date=31 October 2013}}</ref> many of the pieces, though, were either vandalised, removed or stolen.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/10398575/Banksy-sphinx-sculpture-stolen-in-New-York.html |title=Banksy sphinx sculpture stolen in New York |author=Alice Vincent |date=23 October 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2460471/Banksy-sees-street-artworks-vandalized-New-York.html |title=Turning the tables on Banksy: British graffiti artist sees two more of his highly valuable street artworks vandalized in New York |date=15 October 2013 |work=The Daily Mail |deadurl=no |accessdate=3 January 2014 |location=London}}</ref>
=== 2015 'Banksy in Gaza' clip ===
In February 2015 Banksy published a 2-minute video titled "Make this the year '''YOU''' discover a new destination" about his trip to [[Gaza Strip]]. During his visit he has painted a few artworks including a kitten on the remains of a house destroyed by Israel ("''I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website — but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens''") and a swing hanging off a watchtower. In a statement to the [[New York Times]] his publicist said -
<blockquote>I don't want to take sides. But when you see entire suburban neighborhoods reduced to rubble with no hope of a future — what you're really looking at is a vast outdoor recruitment center for terrorists. And we should probably address this for all our sakes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy's Murals Turn Up In Gaza Strip|url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389284591/banksys-murals-turn-up-in-gaza-strip|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=26 February 2015}}</ref></blockquote>
Israeli sources have reported on some inaccuracies in the video's narration. The video says "no cement has been allowed into Gaza since the bombing", although Israel currently allows limited amounts of cement to be imported. The video also says that the area cannot be accessed except by illegal tunnels, although the [[Erez Crossing]] is currently open to Arab residents. The [[Rafah Crossing]] with Egypt is, however, closed.<ref>{{cite news|title=WATCH: Banksy takes aim at Gazan misery in new video|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.644406|publisher=[[Haaretz]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy highlights Gaza plight with mock tourism video|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4631245,00.html|publisher=Ynet}}</ref>
== Identity ==
Banksy's name and identity remain unknown, but a commonly cited 2008 ''[[Mail on Sunday]]'' investigation of several former schoolmates and associates that he is believed to be a former pupil at the [[Public school (UK)|public]] [[Bristol Cathedral School]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24464663 "Banksy 'may abandon commercial art']. BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">[http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/apr/20/observer-profile-banksy-street-art "Banksy: the artist who's driven to the wall"]. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref> There has also been speculation that Banksy is a woman, or that Banksy is a team of seven artists.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Banksy is (Probably) a Woman| url=http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/11/why-banksy-is-probably-a-woman/382202/ |last1=Capps |first1=Kriston |date=4 November 2014 |website=Citylab |publisher=The Atlantic |accessdate=9 November 2014}}</ref> In October 2014 an internet hoax circulated that Banksy had been arrested and his identity revealed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Ella |date=20 October 2014 |title=Banksy not arrested: Internet duped by fake report claiming artist's identity revealed |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-arrest-hoax-internet-duped-by-fake-report-claiming-that-the-street-artists-identity-has-been-revealed-9806157.htm |newspaper=The Independent |location= |accessdate=9 November 2014 }}</ref> It has been stated that the reason for this secrecy is that graffiti is a crime.<ref>''[[The Culture Show]]'' - Episode 13</ref>
== Notable artworks ==
{{Quote box
| quote = "When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires."
| source = – Banksy<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 150</ref>
| width = 25%
| align = right
}}
[[File:Mauer-betlehem.jpg|thumb|Near [[Bethlehem]] – 2005]]
Regarding personal fame, Banksy has stated that "We don't need any more heroes; we just need someone to take out the [[recycling]]."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 202</ref> However, in addition to his artwork, Banksy has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile artworks, including the following:
* At [[London Zoo]], he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in {{convert|7|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} letters.<ref>{{cite web| first= William | last=Langley | date=18 March 2007| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3638535/For-the-Gauguin-of-graffiti-it-was-all-about-tagging.-Now-hes-into-six-figure-price-tags.html| title=For the Gauguin of graffiti it was all about tagging. Now he's into six-figure price tags| publisher=The Telegraph |accessdate=9 November 2014}}</ref>
* At [[Bristol Zoo]], he left the message "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring." in the elephant enclosure.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/design/24arti.html |title = Need Talent to Exhibit in Museums? Not This Prankster |accessdate=12 June 2008 |date = 24 March 2005 |work=The New York Times |first=Randy |last=Kennedy}}</ref>
* In March 2005, he placed subverted artworks in the [[Museum of Modern Art]], [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], and [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[Manhattan]] as well as the [[Brooklyn Museum]] in [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html |title=A Wooster Exclusive: Banksy Hits New York's Most Famous Museums (All of them) |accessdate=19 September 2006 |date=23 March 2005| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060909040458/http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html| archivedate= 9 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In May 2005 Banksy's version of a primitive [[cave painting]] depicting a human figure hunting wildlife while pushing a shopping trolley was hung in gallery 49 of the [[British Museum]], London.<ref name=wired>{{cite journal |first=Jeff |last=Howe |journal=[[Wired magazine|Wired]] |issue=13.08 |url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html |title=Art Attack |date=August 2005 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060902025945/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html| archivedate= 2 September 2006 |deadurl=no |accessdate=3 January 2014}}</ref>
* In August 2005, Banksy painted nine images on the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]], including an image of a ladder going up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall.<ref name="JonesIsrael" /><ref name="BBCNews5Aug2005">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm |title=Art prankster sprays Israeli wall |publisher=BBC News |date=5 August 2005 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Parry |url=http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml |title=British Graffiti Artist, Banksy, Hacks the Wall |date=10 October 2006 |publisher=Nigel Parry, from MIT ''Thresholds'' journal |accessdate=12 February 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090211151040/http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml| archivedate= 11 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Parry |url=http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article4153.shtml |title=Well-known UK graffiti artist Banksy hacks the Wall |date=2 September 2005 |publisher=[[Electronic Intifada]] |accessdate=12 February 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090216190214/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4153.shtml| archivedate= 16 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In October 2005, Banksy designed six station IDs for [[Nickelodeon]].<ref>{{cite web|author=loveforlogos |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aehLH1w8I&feature=youtu.be |title=Nickelodeon Next ID (2005) |publisher=YouTube |date=29 July 2012 |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref>
* In April 2006, Banksy created a sculpture based on a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side, apparently bleeding, and placed it in a side street in [[Soho]], London. It was later removed by [[Westminster City Council|Westminster Council]]."<ref name="BBCNews7Apr2007">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4887660.stm |title=Artist's cold call cuts off phone |work=BBC News |date=7 April 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref>
* In June 2006, Banksy created an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall visible from Park Street in central [[Bristol]]. The image sparked "a heated debate",<ref name="HSH p93">''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'' by Steve Wright (2007), p. 93</ref> with the [[Bristol City Council]] leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go.<ref name="nakedman">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5103306.stm |title=Artist's saucy stencil for city |date=21 June 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006 |work=BBC News}}</ref> After an internet discussion in which 97% of the 500 people surveyed supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building.<ref name="HSH p93" /> The mural was later defaced with blue paint.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8114184.stm |title=Banksy mural defaced with paint |date=23 June 2009 |accessdate=23 June 2009 |work=BBC News| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090626223938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8114184.stm| archivedate= 26 June 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* In August/September 2006, Banksy placed up to 500 copies of [[Paris Hilton]]'s debut CD, ''[[Paris (Paris Hilton album)|Paris]]'', in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by [[Danger Mouse (music producer)|Danger Mouse]]. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why Am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". Several copies of the CD were purchased by the public before stores were able to remove them, some going on to be sold for as much as £750 on online auction websites such as [[eBay]]. The cover art depicted Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with her chihuahua Tinkerbell's head replacing her own, and one of her stepping out of a luxury car, edited to include a group of homeless people, which included the caption "90% of success is just showing up."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm |title=Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank |publisher=BBC News |date=4 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060910085841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm| archivedate= 10 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Claire |last=Truscott |first2=Martin |last2=Hodgson |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece |title=Banksy targets Paris Hilton |publisher=[[The Independent on Sunday]] |date=3 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006 | location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060905204207/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece| archivedate= 5 September 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=10995 |title=Paris Prank Confirmed |date=7 September 2006 |accessdate=19 September 2006}}</ref>
* In September 2006, Banksy dressed an inflatable doll in the manner of a [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp]] prisoner ([[Guantanamo captive's uniforms|orange jumpsuit]], black hood, and handcuffs) and then placed the figure within the [[Big Thunder Mountain Railroad]] ride at the [[Disneyland]] theme park in [[Anaheim, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html|title=Breaking: The story Disneyland doesn't want you to know|date=8 September 2006|accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061015233859/http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html| archivedate= 15 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm|title=Artist Banksy targets Disneyland|work=BBC News |date=11 September 2006|accessdate=19 September 2006| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20061005170241/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm| archivedate= 5 October 2006 | deadurl= no}}</ref>
* He makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and was responsible for the cover art of [[Blur (band)|Blur's]] 2003 album ''[[Think Tank (Blur album)|Think Tank]]''.
* In September 2007, Banksy covered a wall in Portobello Road with a French artist painting graffiti of Banksy's name.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm|title=£208,100 eBay bid for Banksy wall|date=14 January 2008|accessdate=14 January 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080117104716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm| archivedate= 17 January 2008 | deadurl= no| work=BBC News}}</ref>
* In July 2012, in the run up to the ''[[London 2012]]'' Olympic games he created several pieces based upon this event. One included an image of an athlete throwing a missile instead of Javelin, evidently taking a poke at the Surface to Air missile sites positioned in the Stratford area to defend the games.<ref>{{cite web|author=Eurosport |url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/londonspy/london-could-destroy-banksy-valuable-olympic-graffiti-091627080.html |title=London could destroy Banksy's valuable Olympic graffiti | London Spy – Yahoo! Eurosport UK |publisher=Uk.eurosport.yahoo.com |date=25 July 2012 |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=24 July 2012 13:02 Updated: 26 July 2012 23:37 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/24/london-2012-banksy-street-art_n_1697535.html?utm_hp_ref=uk |title=London 2012: Street Artist Banksy's Olympic Graffiti Unveiled (PICTURES) |publisher=Huffingtonpost.co.uk |date= |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref>
* In April 2014, he created a piece in Cheltenham, near the GCHQ headquarters, which depicts three men wearing sunglasses and using listening devices to "snoop" on a telephone box, evidently criticising the recent [[Global surveillance disclosures]] of 2013. This was only confirmed by Banksy as his work later in June 2014.<ref>{{cite web|author=10 June 2014 13:02 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/10/banksy-creator-spy-booth-wall-art-gchq ref=uk |title=Banksy confirms he is creator of Spy Booth wall art near GCHQ |publisher=guardian.com |date= |accessdate=10 June 2014}}</ref>
=== Damaged artwork ===
{{Main|Works by Banksy that have been damaged or destroyed}}
Several artworks by Banksy were vandalized, painted over or destroyed.
In 2008, in [[Melbourne]], vandals had poured paint over a stencil of an old-fashioned diver wearing a trench coat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |title=Anti-graffiti crew accidentally paints over Banksy art in CBD |work=The Melbourne Leader |date=27 April 2010 |accessdate=27 April 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100429030922/http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/| archivedate= 29 April 2010 | deadurl= no}}</ref> In April 2010, the [[Melbourne City Council]] reported that they had inadvertently ordered private contractors to paint over the last remaining Banksy art in the city. The image was of a [[Parachuting Rat|rat descending in a parachute]] adorning the wall of an old council building behind the Forum Theatre. This report was false, as the image was destroyed by plumbers in May 2012.
Many works that make up the ''Better Out Than In'' series in New York City have been [[Defacement (vandalism)|defaced]], some just hours after the piece was unveiled.<ref name=nytimes_welcome>{{cite news|title=Banksy’s New York Welcome|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/banksys-new-york-welcome.html|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=15 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko|first=Jane|title=Banksy Piece In Queens Defaced By Other Graffiti Artists|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/banksy-destroyed_n_4101145.html?utm_hp_ref=new-york|work=[[Huffington Post]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=15 October 2013}}</ref> At least one defacement was identified as done by a competing artist, OMAR NYC, who spray-painted over Banksy's red mylar balloon piece in [[Red Hook, Brooklyn|Red Hook]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko|first=Jane|title=Banksy Hater, OMAR NYC, Defaces Art In Red Hook|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/banksy-hater-defaces_n_4065250.html|work=[[Huffington Post]]|accessdate=21 October 2013|date=8 October 2013}}</ref> OMAR NYC also defaced some of Banksy's work in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Turco|first=Bucky|title=BANKSY THOROUGHLY RAGGED|url=http://animalnewyork.com/2010/banksy-thoroughly-ragged/|work=Animal New York|accessdate=21 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Dobkin|first=Jake|title=Banksy Gets Dissed|url=http://gothamist.com/2010/05/18/banksy_gets_dissed.php?#photo-1|work=[[Gothamist]]|accessdate=21 October 2013}}</ref>
== Technique ==
[[File:Banksy Girl ATM.JPG|thumb|ATM attacking a girl, Rosebery Avenue, London, January 2008]]
Asked about his technique, Banksy said: {{quote|I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.designiskinky.net/profiles/banksy.html|title=Design is Kinky|publisher=Design is Kinky|accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090203043252/http://designiskinky.net/profiles/banksy.html| archivedate= 3 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref>}}
[[Stencil#Aerosol stencils|Stencils]] are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photocopy nature of much of his work.
He mentions in his book, ''Wall and Piece'', that as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always too slow and was either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. So he devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour.
There is dispute in the street art world over the legitimacy of stencils, with many artists criticising their use as "cheating."<ref name="Graffiti Wars">{{cite web|title=Graffiti Wars|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/graffiti-wars|work=Graffiti Wars|publisher=Channel 4|accessdate=13 September 2011}}</ref>
== Political and social themes ==
[[File:Shop Until You Drop by Banksy.JPG|thumb|right|''Shop Until You Drop'' in Mayfair, London. Banksy has said "We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 204</ref>]]
Banksy once characterised graffiti as a form of underclass "revenge", or [[guerilla warfare]] that allows an individual to snatch away power, territory and glory from a bigger and better equipped enemy.<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy sees a social class component to this [[class struggle|struggle]], remarking "If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead."<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy's work has also shown a desire to mock centralised power, hoping that his work 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.<ref name = "HPBanksy" />
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]]. Additionally, the components of the [[human condition]] that his works commonly critique are [[greed]], poverty, [[hypocrisy]], [[boredom]], [[Despair (emotion)|despair]], [[absurdity]], and [[Social alienation|alienation]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Jonathon Keats |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2012/08/03/why-banksy-deserves-an-olympic-gold-more-than-usain-bolt/ |title=Why Banksy Deserves An Olympic Gold More Than Usain Bolt – Forbes |publisher=Forbes.com |date=3 August 2012 |accessdate=1 January 2013}}</ref> Although Banksy's works usually rely on visual imagery and iconography to put forth his message, he has made several politically related comments in his various books. In summarising his list of "people who should be shot," he listed "Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, (and) people who write lists telling you who should be shot."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 110</ref> While facetiously describing his political nature, Banksy declared that "Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world, I can't even finish my second apple pie."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, ISBN 1-84413-787-2, pg 155</ref>
== Criticism ==
Peter Gibson, a spokesman for [[Keep Britain Tidy]], asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html |title=Banksy biography |work=Brian Sewell Art Directory (briansewell.com) |date=4 August 2005 |accessdate=26 January 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090215230943/http://briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html| archivedate= 15 February 2009 | deadurl= no}}</ref> and Diane Shakespeare, an official for the same organisation, was quoted as saying: "We are concerned that Banksy's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere" /> In his column for ''[[The Guardian]]'', satirist [[Charlie Brooker]] wrote of Banksy "...his work looks dazzlingly clever to idiots."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.visualarts |title=Supposing ... Subversive genius Banksy is actually rubbish |work=Charlie Brooker (guardian.co.uk) |date=22 September 2006 |accessdate=31 January 2011 |location=London}}</ref>
He has also been long criticised for copying the work of [[Blek le Rat]], who created the life-sized stencil technique in early 1980s Paris and used it to express a similar combination of political commentary and humorous imagery.<ref name=Coan /> Blek has praised Banksy for his contribution to urban art,<ref name=Coan /> but said in an interview for the documentary ''Graffiti Wars'' that some of Banksy's more derivative work makes him "angry", saying that "It's difficult to find a technique and style in art so when you have a style and you see someone else is taking it and reproducing it, you don't like that."<ref>{{cite news|author=Wells, Jeff|date=15 August 2011|title=Guerrilla artists at war over style accusations|newspaper=[[Western Daily Press]]|page=3}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
Banksy has [[self-published]] several books that contain photographs of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own writings:
* Banksy, ''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'' (2001) ISBN 978-0-9541704-0-0
* Banksy, ''Existencilism'' (2002) ISBN 978-0-9541704-1-7
* Banksy, ''Cut It Out'' (2004) ISBN 978-0-9544960-0-5
* Banksy, ''Wall and Piece'' (2005) ISBN 978-1-84413-786-2
* Banksy, ''Pictures of Walls'' (2005) ISBN 978-0-9551946-0-3
* Banksy, ''You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat'' (2012) ISBN 978-1908211088
[[Random House]] published ''Wall and Piece'' in 2005. It contains a combination of images from his three previous books, as well as some new material. The book was a best seller in the arts category for several years after its release.<ref>Tom Tivnan, [http://www.thebookseller.com/feature/art-matter.html ''Art of the matter''], The Book Seller, 8 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2011.</ref>
Books about his work, authored by others:
* Ulrich Blanché, ''Something to s(pr)ay: Der Street Artivist Banksy. Eine kunstwissenschaftliche Untersuchung'' (2010), ISBN 978-3-8288-2283-2
* Martin Bull, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Vfnk4ROcGIEC&printsec=frontcover ''Banksy Locations and Tours: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London''] (2006 – with new editions in 2007, 2008 and 2010), ISBN 978-0-9554712-4-7.
* Will Elsworth-Jones, ''Banksy, the Man behind the Wall'' (2012), ISBN 978-1-8451369-9-4.
* Paul Gough (ed), ''Banksy, the Bristol Legacy'' (2012), ISBN 978-1-906593-96-4.
* Steve Wright, ''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'', Tangent Books (2007), ISBN 978-1-906477-00-4
* {{Cite book|editor1-first=Mirko|editor1-last=Reisser|editor1-link=Mirko Reisser|editor2-first=Gerrit|editor2-last=Peters|editor3-first=Heiko|editor3-last=Zahlmann|title=Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|series=Urban Discipline: Graffiti-Art|volume=3|edition=1st|page=144|language=german|publisher=getting-up|location=Hamburg (Germany)|year=2002|ISBN=3-00-009421-0|url={{Google books|Kv6zGfMIIP8C|Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|page=|plainurl=yes}}}}
== See also ==
* [[@earth]]
* [[Blek le Rat]], one of the first graffiti artists in Paris. Has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti"
* [[King Robbo]], English, early underground graffiti artist who had a feud with Banksy, described in a documentary called [[Graffiti Wars]]
* [[Above (artist)|Above]], American, stencil artist with social and political themes.
* [[List of urban artists]]
* [[Street art]]
* [[Street installation]]
* [[Works by Banksy damaged or destroyed]]
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== External links ==
{{commons category|Banksy}}
{{wikiquote|Banksy}}
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'''Official websites:'''
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.pestcontroloffice.com Pest Control] – official Banksy authentication
* [http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/Banksy/banksy.htm Banksy Street Art Photographs]
* [http://www.banksyunmasked.co.uk Gallery of Banksy photographs]
'''Databases:'''
* {{Discogs artist|Banksy}}
* {{IMDb name|2612991}}
'''Slideshows and galleries:'''
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/ Banksy Images] – from ''[[Flickr]]''
* [http://www.artnet.com/artist/424007326/banksy.html Banksy Works] – from ''[[Artnet]]''
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/banksy_gallery.shtml Banksy Gallery] – by ''[[BBC News]]''
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8096000/8096891.stm Banksy v Bristol Museum] – slideshow by ''[[BBC]]''
* [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/14983,news-comment,news-politics,banksy-in-pictures Banksy Under the Hammer] – slideshow by ''[[The First Post]]''
* [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/9757,news-comment,news-politics,banksy-on-the-west-bank Banksy on the West Bank] – slideshow by ''[[The First Post]]''
* [http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/05/14/slideshow_070514_banksy#slide=1 Banksy: In Plain Sight] – exhibition slideshow by ''[[The New Yorker]]''
* [http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/about-banksy/ Stencil Revolution About Banksy]
* [http://www.britishtours.com/360/banksy-one-nation-under-cctv/ Banksy's One Nation Under CCTV, Quicktime VR]
'''News items'''
* [http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=760586 "Police thwart attempt to steal Bethlehem Banksy mural", Ma'an News Agency, April 21, 2015]
{{Culture in Bristol}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata
| NAME = Banksy
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English graffiti artist, political activist and painter, whose identity is unconfirmed
| DATE OF BIRTH = c. between 1970 and 1975
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Bristol, England
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
[[Category:Banksy| ]]
[[Category:English graffiti artists]]
[[Category:Culture jamming]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Street artists]]
[[Category:Artists from Bristol]]
[[Category:English activists]]
[[Category:Anonymous artists]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous artists]]
[[Category:English film directors]]
[[Category:English anarchists]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English painters]]
[[Category:Guerilla artists]]
[[Category:Unidentified people]]
[[Category:Political artists]]
[[Category:English contemporary artists]]
[[Category:British contemporary artists]]' |
