Who is Banksy?

A Mythical character of the graffiti scene...

Introduction

The mythical character of the graffiti scene, Banksy is identified as a troubadour of modern times. Renowned committed artist, no social fact resists him since he is incisive and mind-blowing in his art. Nowadays, Banksy has a place among the greats of this world by his countless reprehensible, but very subversive acts.

He loves to provoke, shock even to disturb society and that is why his work is so important. Despite his ability to break the rules, he remains to this day a mystery since his true identity has never been revealed. In all likelihood, Banksy is a Street art graffiti artist from Bristol, England. Philanthropist, anti-war and revolutionary, the artist uses his art as a medium for communication to say loud and clear his dissatisfaction with certain social phenomena, certain political situations or outright certain decisions adopted by world leaders. Born tentatively in 1974, it was not until the 1980s that he began to handle the aerosol, after completing a butcher training. But it was between 1992 and 1994 he became truly a graffiti artist, as part of a group called the Bristol's DrybreadZ Crew (DBZ), assisting his colleagues Kato and Tes.

Since the beginning of his career, he employs an original combination of stencils and writings; he apparently stated he is not at his best with the usual aerosol spray can. Even though, it was not until 2000 that he made use of more elaborate stencils. He would have explained that he conceived this idea after escaping a police chase while he was hiding under a train car.

According to some sources, his real name would be Robin or Robert Banks but, again, nothing is certain. Banksy insists stubbornly on remaining anonymous, as the graffiti’s spirit that involves creating artworks in the purest secret. His art is a mixture of irony, irreverence, humor and often contains very clear messages, in the context where they are not interpreted literally.

The techniques he operates seem relatively diversified. Obviously, he develops himself very detailed stencils, allowing us to believe he frequently makes use of IT (information technology) to achieve his task. Moreover, in the context of some works, there seem to be image translations, freehand painting and of course, a spray- painted part. Beloved child of the art world and a police authorities' nightmare, Banksy is also known as art terrorist in Britain. His ability to sneak around in museums and centers of public attractions, while maintaining anonymity is the cause.

The artist disrupts the normal course of things, embellishing them, exaggerating them, giving his work a depth and perspective like no one else has reached to do it so far, in his own way of course. He manages his product cleverly; he excites and provokes the audience at the same time, in such a fascinating way that they always want more.

A little trip into his world is necessary, in order to learn more about this character, he is fascinating. It’s hard to believe Banksy is just beginning to arouse our curiosity.