Banksy: A Criminal Genius

Few things are known about Banksy: one is that he was born in Bristol, another is that he is the most famous artist who nobody knows.

His work can be spotted in cities around the world, and has led to some people removing walls with his distinct spray-painted images and selling them for more than £100,000. His subversive, satirical, stencil-based artworks encompassing politics, culture and ethics, have led to him being one of the most sought after artists by both collectors and the police.

banksy_2219565b — Banksy, Diamond Jubilee Graffiti

Jack and Jill (2005) typifies his work: a subversion of expectations. The vibrant smiling children are fitted with police vests, protected but oppressed. The exaggerated protection could be interpreted as a comment on the media’s fixation with violence.

Recently he made headlines with his image of a child worker making bunting for the Queen’s Jubilee, on the side of a Poundland: his stand against the overseas child labour that produced cheap souvenirs for the celebrations.

Elsewhere, in Melbourne a builder caused uproar when he put two pipes through the middle of one of Banksy’s works. The rat, parachuting with a briefcase, fell victim to a new bathroom. Local residents claimed that it had devalued their properties, and they weren’t the only victims with three other works suffering either vandalism or being painted over by the council.

Undoubtedly one of the most controversial and original artists, despite preferring to be called a ‘vandal’, you can acquire your own without having to demolish a house by clicking here.