When i was about 12 or 13 I painted Cafc rule on the playground wall. I got the cane for it,had I not been treated so unfairly I could of been the original Banksy
I love Banksy's output. Mainly because it brightens up a drab wall and places a huge smile on my face.
He didn't start out to make money from this but to make satirical comments on our society in a street art medium. Not his fault that someone else deemed to put a substantial dollar value on his stuff.
I like his stuff, some is very clever and non pretentious. As others have said, he provokes debate through his Art, so at the very least he gets people talking about the topics of the day.
I guess he makes unambiguous points, and he's largely fighting the good fight. Think his whole mystique is fairly laughable but maybe we need a Banksy, maybe we need someone to write it on a wall and get blogged about
Oh for fuck sake. The usual suspects will all say he's a twat. The slightly smarter ones will say he's a successful con artist and good for him fooling all of those Guardian readers. Another lot will celebrate his sense of humour and the other other lot will say he isn't left wing enough and he sold out to global capitalism.
I find it more difficult to understand how he's remained anonymous after spending 3 odd weeks at a time on a scaffold while doing a 10m x 10m piece of graffiti. Don't no one see him come down for a cuppa tea or a lemon???
So he sells one of his pieces. Someone pays money somewhere. Even if to a company, that company has got to have owners / directors etc the money must be declared somewhere.
I find it more difficult to understand how he's remained anonymous after spending 3 odd weeks at a time on a scaffold while doing a 10m x 10m piece of graffiti. Don't no one see him come down for a cuppa tea or a lemon???
The picture that has just been sold is a canvas, not painted on the side of a building.
So he sells one of his pieces. Someone pays money somewhere. Even if to a company, that company has got to have owners / directors etc the money must be declared somewhere.
So he sells one of his pieces. Someone pays money somewhere. Even if to a company, that company has got to have owners / directors etc the money must be declared somewhere.
He is not wanted for a crime (despite what some might think), how would anyone other than the police/tax man have the authority to find out about an individual's finances?
See the Panama papers for how money is hidden (or read Private Eye).
Think I'm right in saying that things get bought and sold anonymously all the time at these big auction houses and I don't think Banksy's ID is a massive secret in the right circles anyway. If someone really really wanted to know who s/he was, they could find out easy enough
Think his recent classic large oil painting on canvass of a full House of Commons depicting the 600-odd chimpanzees in full howl is brilliant. It should have been bought for the nation and hung at Westminster.
Think his recent classic large oil painting on canvass of a full House of Commons depicting the 600-odd chimpanzees in full howl is brilliant. It should have been bought for the nation and hung at Westminster.
Think I'm right in saying that things get bought and sold anonymously all the time at these big auction houses and I don't think Banksy's ID is a massive secret in the right circles anyway. If someone really really wanted to know who s/he was, they could find out easy enough
Agreed, his identity is known by many - how could it not?
In my opinion he is one of the finest artists alive today and will be (if he isn't already) a figure covered in all Art History degrees for decades, even centuries.
Comments
I got the cane for it,had I not been treated so unfairly I could of been the original Banksy
He didn't start out to make money from this but to make satirical comments on our society in a street art medium. Not his fault that someone else deemed to put a substantial dollar value on his stuff.
And you'd all be right.
£9.9m for Devolved Parliament last night.
He said said Shame he doesn’t still own it !
surely you can just follow the money.
Someone pays money somewhere.
Even if to a company, that company has got to have owners / directors etc
the money must be declared somewhere.
See the Panama papers for how money is hidden (or read Private Eye).
£9.9 million?!
Ok.
*makes note to go into loft later to dig out monkey pics I drew as a child*
Agreed, his identity is known by many - how could it not?
In my opinion he is one of the finest artists alive today and will be (if he isn't already) a figure covered in all Art History degrees for decades, even centuries.
Anybody with a genuine interest in this should check out 'Graffiti Wars', made by Channel 4.
It shows the battle between Banksy and another artist by the name of King Robbo who has now sadly passed.
Won't say too much but for anybody that has a remote interest in Banksy or graffiti, should definitely check it out.