Banksy brief biography of mark
Bexley Grammar School
Banksy is a British anonymous graffiti artist, political activist, film director, sculptor and author, and uses their art to loudly proclaim their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of society, political situations, and even decisions made by world leaders. Their work pops up in multiple public places, such as the walls of buildings. Their style is easily recognizable, as it has remained consistent throughout the years.
A little background information. . .
The aspiring creator was born in Bristol in 1974, and is said to have been a pupil at Bristol Cathedral School and also to have attended St Brendan’s Sixth Form College. They began as an artist at the age of 14, and was expelled from school and served time in prison for a petty crime.
The beginning. . .
The artist began their career in the early 1990s. Banksy admired the works of Blek Le Rat, and often recycled the artist's old ideas, moulding their own distinctive voice and style as they went. Initially, they were part of a graffiti crew in Bristol by the name of DryBreadZ crew or DBZ, and occasionally used stencils for their work. In the late 90s, they began using stencils predominantly. Later on, they started sharing their art on social media. Their first known mural was a piece called “The Mild Mild West”, which was created in response to police armed in riot gear attacking party goers at an event at Winterstroke. The image depicts a teddy bear tossing a moatov cocktail at policemen in riot gear.
A rise in popularity. . . Banksy started as a freehand graffiti artist in 1990–1994 as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with two other artists known as Kato and Tes. He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger Bristol underground scene with Nick Walker, Inkie and 3D. During this time he met Bristol photographer Steve Lazarides, who began selling Banksy's work, later becoming his agent. By 2000 he had turned to the art of stencilling after realising how much less time it took to complete a work. He claims he changed to stencilling while hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London. He was the goalkeeper for the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls football team in the 1990s, and toured with the club to Mexico in 2001. 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 in Bristol. It depicts a teddy bear lobbing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police. 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 rats, apes, 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 for over ten years, was unwittingly painted over after the premises became a Muslim cultural centre. On 19 July 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles exhibition debuted at 331& With tongue firmly planted in cheek, English graffiti artist and international prankster Banksy has managed to become one of the world's most recognized artists while remaining relatively anonymous. Staying true to the credos of Street Art, he's built a celebrated body of work, both permanent and impermanent, that utilizes satire, subversion, dark humor, and irony to create resonant social, political, and humanist messages for the masses on a populous and public level. His style is universally familiar, founded on a signature stencil aesthetic that has elevated him from mere man with a spray can to a highly creative artist in his own right. He is responsible for catapulting guerilla work into the mainstream as a viable form of art. Graffiti artist, political activist and painter For the payment processor, see Banksys. Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world. His work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack. Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. He no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but his public "installations" are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall on which they were painted. Much of his work can be classified as temporary art. A small number of his works are officially, non-publicly, sold through an agency he created called Pest Control. Banksy directed and starred in the documentary film Exit Through the Gift Shop, which made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. In January 2011, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. Banksy received the Webby Person of the Year award at the 2014 Webby Awards. Banksy's name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. In a 2003 interview with Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian, Banksy is described as "white, 28, scruffy casual—jeans, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. He looks like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of The
Banksy was noticed as a freehand artist in 1993, and had numerous newspaper articles written about them. Using stencils since 2000 to enhance their speed, they developed a distinctive iconography of highly recognizable images, such as rats and policemen that showed their anti-authoritarian message. With wry wit and stealth, Banksy merged graffiti art with installation and performance. Their work has been fea BANKSY
EARLY CAREER (1990–2001)
EXHIBITIONS (2002–2003)
Summary of Banksy
Accomplishments
Banksy
Identity