General Information

Banksy, a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter who came from Bristol to put his street art up in London, was the pathfinder of the whole street art movement in London. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique.

The Stencil Technique: Highlights

Stencils are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy’s work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils.

The Stencil Technique: Explained

It is assumed that Banksy uses computers for some images due to the photocopy nature of much of his work. He mentions in his book, “Wall and Piece”, that as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always too slow and was either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. So he devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour. There is dispute in the street art world over the legitimacy of stencils, with many artists criticising their use as ‘cheating.’

Political and Social Expression: Highlights

Banksy’s works have dealt with an array of political and social themes, including anti-war, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism.

Political and Social Expression: Explained

Banksy once characterised graffiti as a form of underclass ‘revenge’, or guerilla warfare that allows an individual to snatch away power, territory and glory from a bigger and better equipped enemy. He sees a social class component to this struggle, remarking, ‘If you don’t own a train company then you go and paint on one instead”. Banksy’s work has also shown a desire to mock centralized power, hoping that his work will show the public that although power does exist and work against you, that power is not terribly efficient and it can and should be deceived. Additionally, the components of the human condition that his works commonly critique are greed, poverty, hypocrisy, boredom, despair, absurdity, and alienation. Although Banksy’s works usually rely on visual imagery and iconography to put forth his message, he has made several politically related comments in his various books.

Identity: Highlights

There have been numerous rumours and theories as to Banksy’s identity. In 2004, an alleged photograph of him surfaced. Through the pictures, Banksy’s identity was speculated and the names often suggested include Robert Banks and Robin Gunningham.

Identity: Explained

Banksy himself states on his website: “I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being ‘good at drawing’ doesn’t sound like Banksy to me.”

Exit Through the Gift Shop – A Banksy Film: Highlights

Besides creating street art, Banksy also directed several films. His first film, “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, billed as ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie,’ made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. In January 2011, Banksy was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film.

Interesting Facts

Banksy was the pathfinder of the whole street art movement in London. His works have dealt with an array of political and social themes, including anti-war, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism. Banksy also directed several films.