With the hype about Banksy’s New York residency Art in the Streets, we thought it would be good to take a look at his most famous works from all over the world. By no means is this exhaustive but with some research and your help we can build this into a great resource for Banksy fans from near and far.
Every day in June graffiti artist Banksy painted a new work somewhere in New York City. The project was called “Better Out Than In” and has garnered a lot of attention for Banksy, who asked that the location of the artworks not be revealed to the public – though many have been documented on Instagram and other social media sites. The works can be viewed HERE.
Banksy’s art is generally satirical, with stinging critiques of war, capitalism, hypocrisy, greed, poverty and other societal ills. He has been both praised as an artist and reviled as a vandal by critics and commentators alike. Although he began as part of London’s graffiti scene, Banksy is known for his large scale street artworks, which combine graffiti writing with a distinctive stenciling technique. Banksy always gives credit to his original inspirations such as Blek le Rat, Keith Haring
Banksy is an artist whose works have been seen around the world, as well as sold for hefty prices. His works are often satirical in nature and feature murals of urban settings. Banksy is a pseudonymous artist and remains unidentified to this day.
Tagging walls and buildings with graffiti was his original art style. He began stenciling and spray-painting images on streets, walls, bridges, and buildings in the early 1990s.
Banksy’s work has appeared on city streets throughout the world, including London, New York City, Melbourne, Bristol, Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto and Melbourne. His first film Exit Through The Gift Shop was nominated for an Oscar (awarded in 2011).
Banksy is also a controversial political activist who has been arrested several times. He recently made headlines by painting on Gaza’s security wall.
As a graffiti artist Banksy has been putting up his artwork on public places around the world since the early 1990s. Many of his artworks have been illegally placed, some in areas of high visibility. Some of them have later become famous. Banksy’s famous work called “Maid in England” was painted on a house wall in Easton, Bristol, UK close to Bristol Parkway railway station and it’s shown on the photo above.
Quote: “The best way to smuggle drugs into America is with a tour group”. ~~~Banksy
One of the most controversial of Banksy’s works was created on 9th February 2005 as a part of Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles, California. The art piece was called “My name is still here” and consisted of two opposite doors that looked like they were covered with graffiti but in fact they were just cut out of the gallery wall and painted white. The doors opened to reveal nothing behind them which showed the viewers how easy it is to create an illusion with help from media.
The most intriguing and mysterious piece by Banksy was done in London on May 1, 2004 and it was called “Turf War”
Most people don’t know but Banksy is an anonymous artist. He’s famous for his graffiti and street art, but no one knows who he really is. The British artist has made a huge impact on the art world with his work and we have compiled a list of some of the most popular pieces of his art.
Tagging buildings around Bristol in the early 90s, Banksy quickly ventured into London, where he began to put up pieces of street art on walls around Shoreditch. He became so well known that he would leave his mark on major cities like New York and Paris. His reputation grew so much that he was commissioned to paint murals on walls in Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto and Bethlehem in Palestine.
Banksy is known for his sharp political statements, which he does by painting often humorous images on walls in public spaces. Some of the most famous works are “The Mild Mild West” which is a parody of the wild west and one of his most famous works “Balloon Girl” which features a girl letting go of her balloons while she looks longingly at them.
His works were featured in two major exhibitions in 2006 and 2008 which brought him even more acclaim, as well as many
Each work is ‘altered’ – whether by adding, removing or covering over the original piece. The location of the graffiti is also often important, such as an iconic landmark like Nelson’s Ship in Liverpool or Big Ben in London, a building that has political significance, such as the Israeli Embassy in London and a site of historical significance, such as The Great Sphinx of Giza.
Tagging a work in a highly visible place also increases its chances of getting noticed. This can sometimes lead to arguments with property owners who see unsanctioned work as vandalism. Banksy is one of the most notorious examples of this type of artist.
Many art critics and journalists have written about his work, including Simon Hattenstone from the Guardian newspaper and Kate Mossman from The Independent newspaper.”
Banksy is a graffiti artist whose true identity remains unknown. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive style. Banksy’s work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.
Some of his most famous works include “The Mild Mild West”, depicting a teddy bear lobbing a Molotov cocktail; “Kissing Coppers”, showing two policemen kissing; and “Art Buff”, featuring an elderly woman wearing headphones while admiring an empty picture frame.
A number of his works have been appropriated by advertisers to promote products, including by Virgin Media advertising its broadband services near a piece about internet censorship, and by Sony promoting its Vaio range of laptops in London.
Banksy has also made a feature film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie”. The film is currently ranked 80th in IMDb’s top-rated films.*
