Banksy – the myth
We have all heard about him on television and we have all heard about how much a Banksy original sells for, and how many people have Banksy prints in their houses. But the question still remains: who is Banksy? Part of his success, or at least part of the early impact that his work had on the minds of people come from the fact that he mysterious and elusive. In fact, we can’t even be sure that he is not a she. But man or woman, young or old, Banksy is always Banksy and Banksy work is unmistakable.
Ever since 1992, Banksy works have popped up in Bristol and London and, more recently, a bit all over the World. Banksy originals have similar traits to them that make them as unmistakable and as important as the brushing technique of a painter or the chiseling technique of a sculptor. Combining stencils with freehand graffiti, Banksy created a technique of his own, probably out of convenience as much as of out of artistic expression. Because Banksy’s preferred medium is not an easy one: graffiti artists are persecuted by the police and must do their work out of sight. Something that your ordinary painter doesn’t have to worry about.
