Hi all! How nice to know that so many people, visiting the blog "On the Edge", expand their horizons by studying different sides life. Today's topic is art. There is such a variety of directions in the world: music, painting, sculpture, street art, body art and others.
Everyone can find what he likes. Personally, artists inspire me. These are incredible people with their own vision of the world, many do not want to understand them, especially those who depict negative sides life, harsh reality preferring to live in a world of illusions.
Whether it is worth condemning such people is difficult to answer. After all, if you look at life only through the prism of pessimism, then we will not be able to consider the good side. Seeing only the optimistic side, we will not be able to truly appreciate the moments of happiness that we encounter, taking them for granted.
Banksy is an enigmatic artist
Live in balance, then you will be able to enjoy life. The artist I would like to talk about is famous for his mystery and a special view of the world. Banksy's work photos, which you can see here, will make you think about many things.
Any artist invests in his work, which he wants to convey to the viewer. You don't have to be a great art connoisseur to understand the importance of Banksy's paintings.
Each of the paintings is conceived with a certain subtext. Most do not even suspect that the "ordinary" pictures on the wall of an inconspicuous building, painted with a spray can, are the work of a famous master.
Famous works of Banksy and their brief description
For the past 20 years, the artist has pleased his fans with the appearance of his works in the most unexpected places. Banksy raised the art of street graffiti to new level. Most of his work focuses on social issues, showing problems that we do not want to notice. Even the names speak for themselves.
The painting "Migrants are not welcome here"
Isn't this, in a way, indicators of an absentee judgment about strangers who were forced to leave their homes. People sometimes forget about humanity for the sake of their bias. Until it touches us, we will not understand what it is. This is what Banksy wants to convey to us.
Or his painting of Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple who was a Syrian migrant.
"No future"
Also a symbolic vision human life. We were consumed by the idea that every action or deed must have a meaning. People have ceased to think spiritually, seeking profit in everything.
Or is it the message "When will the wars end?"
Where people with machine guns surrounded a tired elephant. Many will treat the search for a reflection philosophically. Like, human nature is a constant struggle for territory, fossils and other benefits. But, in fact, the war is ruinous and now it is much more profitable to agree than to spend resources on a meaningless, even unprofitable occupation.
"London Maid"
A kind of caricature of Europe's attitude to the rest of the world. There is no concept of conscience, because if you take care of all those in need, then you yourself will remain a loser. The picture lasted about a week until the authorities, considering it provocative, painted over the wall.
"Please love me"
And although love is considered a sublime feeling, the artist wants to show the practical side of feeling with this picture. Pointing out that appearance is not important, the main thing is the commonality of views on things. Then the chance to keep the duration of love is much higher, in comparison with falling in love after the first meeting.
"Differences of views, different people on the same things"
We are all different and sometimes these differences lead to conflict. So the picture shows two people from different layers. One stands for love, the other is symbolically against, condoning violence. Obviously, aggression always wins.
The painting "Enough Heroes" - "No more Heroes"
People in recent years have become so accustomed to solving their problems at the expense of others. Waiting to be rescued by heroes, or even trying on this mask. What the result will be after us is not important. The illusion is created that any loser can become a hero, but this is not so. With such thoughts, humanity expects collapse.
Describe the paintings of Banksy can be long. It is important to understand that the vision of this artist carries with it a view from the outside, which is necessary for each of us to stop and think for a minute. Perhaps then this world can be saved.
Art for everyone
Banksy creates his masterpieces for the soul. One of his paintings painted on the front door of the youth club in Bristol "Mobile Lovers" is charitable. She gained incredible popularity, which saved the club from closing.
Another of the most famous paintings by Banksy is Slave Labor, written specifically for the 60th anniversary of the celebration of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The sale of the painting brought the artist more than 750,000 euros.
Banksy's famous documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. It was even nominated for an Oscar in 2011 as the best feature documentary.
A recent achievement, organized by the Banksy amusement park, only with a certain ironic accent. Peculiar flip side famous Disneyland.
Many celebrities tattoo famous Banksy paintings, paying tribute to the artist, who, despite criticism, defends his point of view of the world.
The main intrigue of Banksy's personality is the incognito that he has kept for so many years. Although during the painting of the wall of one of the pubs in London, Banksy's face lit up on a video camera. And British scientists, in all seriousness, claim that they have declassified the identity of the artist; judging by their calculations, he turned out to be Robin Genningham.
There was no confirmation from the artist himself. So it remains for the viewers and fans of the street artist's talent to judge whether this is true or not.
The street produces great artists
While creating his famous film, Banksy worked with many talented and well-known street artists. One of them was Space Invader, whose name is associated with the game of the late 70s, space invader.
The Invader became famous by drawing pixel mosaics, but not just randomly depicting them, but carefully choosing his plot and places for it. Such an unusual invasion plan.
But the undisputed classic of pop art is Andy Warhol, whose work served as inspiration for many emerging artists.
He was one of the first to use screen printing. Now this trick makes life much easier for street artists, helping to save time. After all, in many countries street art is an illegal act of vandalism, for example in England.
Russian street art artist Pavel 183 gave us his art until he left. He gained his fame after the English media compared his talent to the famous Bansky. Since that time, friends of Pasha 183 began to call Banksy, the English Pasha.
Famous for his talent and French mural painter Thierry Guetta, his joint work with Banksy, in documentary where he was assigned the main role added even more popularity. As an emigrant who moved to the City of Angels and opened his own business, he did not think then that he would be conquered by the art of street art.
Although his style is different from Banksy, he uses ready-made photo images, bringing something new to them, leaving his mark.
Text agent Q.
In contact with
1. The dancer poses at one of the art installations of the British street artist, known under the pseudonym Banksy (Banksy) at the door of the Hustler Club in New York. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Reuters)
2. In the gallery of a Palestinian artist, you can find the door of an old ruined house, which was painted by Banksy. The door was purchased by the owner of a gallery in the town of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The owner of the door never found out that he had sold a real work of modern art that could have been worth a fortune. The door went to the owner of the gallery for only $175. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
3. A resident of Palestine is walking past the place where the very door that Banksy painted was taken from. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
4. Polly Dreezer, a three-year-old girl, looks at the graffiti painted on the wall of the Center government communications Great Britain in Cheltenham, Western England. The British media are linking this new work of Banksy with a hint at the recent scandal that erupted through the fault of Edward Snowden. According to the information provided by him, the UK DSP has full access to international fiber optic networks and transfers all personal data to the NSA. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Reuters)
5. A dog urinates on a new work by British street artist Banksy in New York. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)
6. Graffiti painted on a wall next to Regent's Canal in Camden, London. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
7. This playful kitten is supposedly also the work of Banksy. It is depicted on the ruins of a house damaged by Israeli shelling of the city of Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)
8. Stone sculpture created by Banksy in Queens, New York. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
9. A woman walks past graffiti painted by the elusive British street artist Banksy in a San Francisco neighborhood. (Photo by Robert Galbraith/Reuters)
10. The guy jokingly poses next to Banksy's new work in New York. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
11. A woman is photographed next to a Banksy graffiti called "The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum", Bristol, West England. (Photo by Andrew Winning / Reuters)
12. Graffiti painted by Banksy in the city of Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)
13. A couple sits on a roof near the graffiti painted by Banksy, San Francisco. (Photo by Robert Galbraith/Reuters)
14. A woman walks past graffiti painted on a wall in north London. It is believed that this drawing belongs to Banksy. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)
15. A Palestinian boy walks past one of Bjnxi's drawings, near the Qalandia checkpoint in the West Bank, Israel. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
16. New job Banksy decorates a wall near the financial center of London. (Photo Finbarr O "Reilly / Reuters)
17. A child poses for the camera next to the new Banksy graffiti in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
18. A Palestinian boy looks at a drawing by Banksy, drawn as part of the Christmas exhibition in Bethlehem. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)
19. A man walks past Banksy, London, 2007. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
20. In this graffiti, Banksy showed a little girl with dynamite hidden inside an ice cream, London, 2003. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
21. Fresh work by Banksy, which can be seen on the wall in Coney Island in New York. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
22. A resident of Palestine walks with the children past the graffiti Banksy, Aram, West Bank. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)
23. Another work, also attributed to Banksy, is located on a wall in Portobello Road, west London. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)
24. Graffiti on a wall next to Regent's Canal in Camden, London. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
Works by Banksy (Banksy)
Banksy(Banksy) is a brilliant street artist, filmmaker and political activist from England. Banksy's works are exhibited by famous galleries and valued in millions of dollars. Banksy's street art has gained popularity through his work, including. The scale and geography of the street work makes you wonder and follow his work. Banksy is known to many, but no one has seen his face, which is why he enigmatic personality and the abandonment of social media accounts creates intrigue around his personality. At the beginning of his work, he behaved like an ordinary graffiti writer. Later she began to create original and conceptual black and white stencils. Banksy always acted quickly and irrevocably, which distinguished his manifesto from other artists. He demonstrates street art street art on the street and, first of all, for the residents of the city. Over time, the themes of Banksy's street art work have become socially significant and political in nature and have a deep content. In each work painted on the wall, roof, facade or end of the store, Banksy puts his hidden meaning that only he knows about.
Who is Banksy?
Banksy still does not reveal his real name and continues to create street art, stencils and paintings. Since throughout his work he manages to remain anonymous, there is no reliable data on his biography. There are only suggestions that he was born in 1974 in Bristol, England.
Read the biography and see 100 photos of the best works of Banksy (Banksy).
Banksy: artist, 100 graffiti photo works
All of Banksy's street art work is illegal, so no one knows his travel routes. Every day it becomes more and more difficult for him to hide from the police. In order to complete the conceived art projects faster, the artist has to work at night and use stencil technique. Banksy chooses crowded public places for his outrageous graffiti in order to get the greatest resonance from society. The official website of Banksy is visited by tens of thousands every day, but in order to improve the quality of work we have made one of the most top picks his street art works, large-scale projects, stencils and installations.
Banksy stencils
His paintings on the walls of buildings, asphalt, fences and bridges of cities around the world are accompanied by phrases and epithets of the political and social direction, enliven and transform the urban landscape into another space. At one of the exhibitions in his native city of Bologna, he invited his colleague in creativity.
Street Art Movie - Exit Through the Gift Shop
He made his first directorial debut in 2010 with Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop. At the Sundance Film Festival, the film was presented as the world's first street art "disaster film". The film tells the story of street art artists and Banksy himself. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary by the American Film Academy. It grossed over $5 million at the box office.
P183 R.I.P.
In 2013 after tragic death Russian artist Banksy posted on his website a spray can of paint in the form of a burning candle in honor of his eternal memory, making the signature below - “P183 R.I.P.”.
At the 18th Annual Webby Awards in 2014, Banksy was awarded Person of the Year. In February 2015, the artist traveled incognito to the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Video and photos of this event can be viewed.
Banksy's art work is now valued at millions of dollars. The real estate on which they are drawn significantly exceeds the value of the adjacent buildings. Therefore, their damage is equated to vandalism. Painter Banksy continues to draw and delight his fans with new works of street art in the most unusual places.
art lovers, public figures and graffiti artists who love creativity Banksy is of interest due to the bright, patriotic and acute social nature of the projects. He is recognized as an outstanding figure fine arts. Loyal fans follow all the new works of the elusive graffiti guru. “SOME become cops to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals in order to make the world look better, ”says Banksy.
Where is the Banksy exhibition in Moscow?
- The exhibition takes place in the Central House of Artists (Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val). Address: Crimean shaft, 10;
- opened in 2018 (Central House of Artists), which is very popular among fans of his work.
- August 15, 2018 - Banksy said that he had nothing to do with the exhibition in Moscow. Read more about this situation.
« Crime novel". © Banksy
Banksy has long been the most famous street artist in the world - it's hard to argue with that. His work constantly appears on the streets and in galleries of different countries, and at the same time he still manages to maintain anonymity. The secret of Banksy's identity further fuels interest both in the artist himself and in his work. In 2008, journalist Claudia Joseph (Claudia Joseph) published in the English newspaper The Mail On Sunday under the headline: "Graffiti artist Banksy exposed: this is a former public school student from a middle-class suburb." We bring to your attention the translation of this interesting and very thorough journalistic investigation.
"Flower Thrower" © Banksy
He is probably the most famous living artist. Someone considers him a genius, someone - a vandal. He is always controversial, and arouses admiration and anger in equal measure. Ever since Banksy became famous for his "guerrilla" drawings created using stencils, in public places: On walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even the West Bank, his work sells for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Among its collectors are dozens of stars: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera.
He also became famous for his daring antics that made headlines: for example, he left an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner in California Disneyland and hung a reproduction of the Mona Lisa with a "smile" instead of a face in the Louvre. But perhaps the biggest provocation that constantly haunts the minds of the public is that Banksy's identity has always been a mystery, a jealously guarded secret known only to a few trusted friends.
The identity of Banksy is overgrown with myths. As if his real name is Robin Banks (Robin Banks). That he used to be a butcher. That his parents do not know what their son does and think that he is a very successful artist and decorator. There is also a hypothesis that Banksy is actually a collective of artists, and a person with that name does not exist. Banksy's personality is such a curiosity that when he throws a pizza box into a trash can in Los Angeles, it appears on eBay: the person who put it up for auction believes that traces of the artist's DNA may be on the anchovies left in the box .
© Banksy
He is the Scarlet Pimpernel The Scarlet Pimpernel is the hero of Emma Oritz's novel of the same name about a British aristocratic spy who operated in France during the Age of Terror - approx. ed.) contemporary art that covers its tracks so well that even its agent claims he's not sure who he is. Indeed, establishing the identity of the elusive Banksy has proved as difficult as predicting the location of his next work. But now, after an exhausting investigation that lasted a year and during which we talked with a dozen friends, former colleagues, enemies, neighbors and members of the Banksy family, The Mail On Sunday newspaper came close to unraveling the identity of Banksy. The man we think is Banksy is not a downtown bully but, perhaps predictably, a former public school student from a middle-class suburb.
Our search began with a photograph taken in Jamaica of a smiling man in a blue shirt and jeans with a spray can of paint at his feet. The picture was taken four years ago in 2004 - approx. ed.), and is believed to depict Banksy at work. When the photo hit the press, it was the first crack in the armor of anonymity that the artist had surrounded himself with since his work began to attract the attention of people from the art world. Naturally, Banksy stated that he was not depicted in the photo. By the way, Banksy and all his entourage constantly deny everything.
"Laugh, but someday we will be in power." © Banksy
© Banksy
Armed with this image, we traveled to Bristol, long known to be the artist's hometown, and met a man who claimed to have personally met Banksy. Of course, many claim to have personally met Banksy, but when you start asking questions, it turns out that they “know someone who knows Banksy” and the trace is lost. However, this man said that he not only knew the elusive artist, but also revealed his name to us. The story became gripping as the name was not the usual variation on "Banks". He claims that the man in the photograph used to be called Robin Gunningham (Robin Gunningham): it does not take much imagination to guess how the pseudonym "Banksy" came from this name ( Ben is a shortened version of the name Robin - approx. ed.).
From the data in open access, we managed to glean something else. Robin's father, Peter Gordon Gunningham (1942), is a retired former contract manager living in the Whitehall area of Bristol. Mother - Pamela Ann Dawkin-Jones (Pamela Ann Dawkin-Jones, 1941) - worked as a secretary and has never been outside the Bristol area of Clifton. Now she works in a nursing home. The couple married on April 25, 1970 at Kingswood Wesley Methodist Church. On February 8, 1972, their daughter Sarah was born at Bristol Maternity Hospital. By this time, Peter had been promoted and the family had bought their first home, an apartment in a semi-detached house in Bristol.
© Banksy
The house where Robin Gunningham lived as a child
On July 28, 1973, Robin was born in the same maternity hospital. According to neighbors, at an early age the boy underwent surgery, as he was born with a cleft palate. When Robin was ten, the family moved to a larger house on the same street: it was there that Robin spent his school years and his passion for graffiti began. Neighbor, Anthony Hallett, remembers how the couple, just married, came to this street and lived on it until 1998. After that they divorced. When we showed Mr. Hallett the photograph from Jamaica, he said that the man in the photograph was Robin Gunningham.
In 1984, at the age of eleven, Robin wore a black jacket, gray trousers and a striped tie and went to the famous Bristol Cathedral School, which now costs £9,240 a year, and among former students- model Sophie Anderton. It is hard to imagine Banksy, who always opposes authority, as a public school student roaming the building of the former monastery of the 17th century, with its courtyard, galleries and services in the ancient cathedral. However, when we found a school photograph from 1989, Robin Gunningham turned out to bear a marked resemblance to the man in the Jamaican photograph. In addition, people who studied with Robin recall that he was a very gifted artist. Scott Nurse, an insurance agent who was in the same class as Robin, said: “He was one of three guys in our parallel who were incredibly gifted in terms of art. He drew many illustrations. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he is Banksy. He was also on the rugby team and I think he played hockey."
Robin Gunningham at school, 1989
Bristol Cathedral and Cathedral School
In one of his rare interviews, which Banksy always gives anonymously, the artist admitted that he became interested in graffiti at school. In 1983, the New York hip-hop group Rock Steady Crew toured Europe: they performed at the annual British Royal Variety Performance gala with graffiti writers. Their performance made an indelible impression on future group Massive Attack and Nick Walker, who is now widely famous artist and designer who created the scenery for the films "With wide eyes closed» ( Eyes Wide Shut- last movie Stanley Kubrick, 1999 - approx. ed.) and "Judge Dredd" ( Judge Dredd is a 1995 science fiction action movie directed by Danny Cannon. ed.).
They say that Banksy's passion for art ruined relations with his family. Here is what a former neighbor, Mr. Hallett, said: “Their family has always been very pleasant. I'm not sure, but I think Robin was a graffiti artist. He worked for others and didn't come home for months. He led a wandering life. I will not say that he went off the rails, but his relationship with his family deteriorated. Most likely, this happened due to the fact that he did not live up to their expectations. After he left home, he just disappeared."
© Banksy
In 1985, the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol hosted an exhibition called Graffiti Art In Britain: during the event, the writers painted directly on the walls of the gallery and the hip-hop group The Wild Bunch performed, which later became known like Massive Attack. In an interview that Banksy gave in 2006 to the pop culture magazine Swindle, the artist said: “I come from a small town in the south of England. When I was about ten years old, a guy named was constantly drawing on the street. I think he went to New York and brought graffiti back from there. I grew up looking at graffiti on the streets of Bristol long before I saw graffiti in magazines or on a computer. 3D stopped drawing and created the Massive Attack group: for him it was probably good, but for the city it was a loss. At school, we all loved graffiti. We drew on the bus on the way home. Literally everyone was doing graffiti.”
© Banksy
© Banksy
At the age of sixteen, Robin Gunningham, having passed his final exams and received a certificate, took up street art. The following year, as part of Operation Anderson, undercover police officers arrested seventy-two street artists across Britain and charged them with causing damage. Among those arrested was Tom Bingle, also known as Inkie, a graffiti artist who is considered an associate of Banksy and is now the head of the design department at Sega, a production company. computer games. Bingle was tried but ultimately acquitted. Robin Gunningham was not arrested. There is no mention of Banksy in the records. The artist himself admitted that he became an expert in avoiding meetings with the police.
© Banksy
In his book Wall And Piece, Banksy writes: “When I was eighteen, one night I tried to write in large silver letters on the side of the train: “Late again.” The traffic police showed up and I tore all my clothes to shreds as I ran through the thorny bushes. My comrades got to the car and left, and I spent more than an hour lying under a dump truck, from which oil was poured on me. While I was lying there and listening to the police, I realized that I needed to cut the drawing time in half or tie it up. I looked at the stenciled lettering on the bottom of the fuel tank and realized that I could just copy that style and make the letters a meter high. Finally I got home and crawled into bed. I told my girlfriend that I had an epiphany and she told me to stop using drugs because it's "bad for the heart."
Banksy Wall And Piece book
As the investigation progressed, our inquiries over and over again revealed facts that coincided with what was already known about Banksy. In 1998, Robin Gunningham lived in Bristol, in the Easton district, along with Luke Egan, who exhibited his work with Banksy at Santa's Ghetto, an art store that opened in London's West End in 2001- year, around Christmas. Despite this, when we contacted Egan, he initially denied that he rented an apartment with Banksy or with Robin Gunningham. At the same time, it was known that he participated in the exhibition with Banksy, and in the electoral list it was written that he lived with Robin Gunningham. As a result, Egan said: "I rented an apartment with a guy named Robin Gunningham. But ..." - "Are you saying that he was not Banksy?" "I wasn't there then. I lived with him a long time ago. Anyway, I don't think Banksy even existed then."
Egan and Gunningham are believed to have moved out of the apartment when the owner decided to sell the house. Camilla Stacey, curator of the Bristol Here Gallery, who bought the house in 2000, claims that Banksy and Robin Gunningham are the same person. She knows that Banksy lived in this house, because his work remained there, while letters addressed to Robin Gunningham came to her. "I bought a house where used to live Banksy, she says. - He rented a room, but, it seems to me, there were some troubles with other tenants, and the owner decided to sell it. When I moved into the house, everything was covered in graffiti and stuff like that. I threw everything away. At the time, Banksy was just another guy painting on the streets of Bristol. Another graffiti artist based in Bristol. Sometimes when I think about it, I can't sleep." Indeed, who wouldn't regret throwing away works that would most likely be worth tens of thousands today?
Work created at Walls On Fire in Bristol, 1998
In 1998, Banksy and Inky, along with other artists, organized the Walls On Fire project: they painted a 365-meter-long fence in the port of Bristol. In an unofficial biography of Banksy called Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home, written by local writer Steve Wright, Inka's words are quoted: “I helped Banksy organize the event, but then moved away into the shade and got drunk, if I'm not confusing anything."
"Soft, soft West". © Banksy
In 1999, Banksy painted in Bristol, on Stokes Croft Street in Easton, on the wall opposite the Subway Records store, a work called "The Soft, Soft West" ( Mild Mild West - obviously, the stable phrase Wild Wild West is played up - "wild, wild West" - approx. ed.), which shows Teddy bear with a Molotov cocktail in hand. Jim Paine, founder of Subway Records, was holding the ladder. “I met Banksy some time before, in the mid-to-late 1990s – he then rented a room in Easton, a couple of streets away from me,” he says in the book of Rights.
"The whole state is under video surveillance." © Banksy
"Buy until you drop." © Banksy
After living for some time in London, in February 2000, Banksy returned to Bristol for his first exhibition. It took place in the restaurant Severnshed - a former boathouse designed by Brunel ( Isambard Kingdom Brunel - a famous British engineer who lived in the 19th century, one of big figures in the history of the Industrial Revolution - approx. ed.). All works were sold on the opening day of the exhibition. “It was the first time in his life he was doing work on canvas,” curator Robert Birse told us last week. - He had no idea how to stretch the canvas or prepare the work for the exhibition, but he clearly knew what he wanted to do. I don't even know his name. He has a set of pseudonyms that he uses with the people he works with, but then he only allowed his old comrades to work. I think I paid him in cash [for the works sold at the exhibition]. I could write a check without a name or pay in cash.”
In the early 2000s, Banksy moved to London - and again this coincides with the time of Robin Gunningham's move. Robin lived in East London, in Hackney, on Kingsland Road. He shared an apartment with Jamie Eastman, who worked in Bristol record company Hombre. Banksy has designed several covers for the albums released by this company.
Cover 1998 © Banksy
Cover 2000 © Banksy
In 2001, Banksy had his first informal exhibition in London, during which he spray-painted twelve works on the washed walls of a tunnel on Rivington Street in the Shoreditch district of Hackney (Rivington, Shoreditch). However, the Turf War exhibition brought him worldwide fame ( English "war for territory", "struggle for power"), which took place in July 2003 in a warehouse located literally meters from the apartment rented by Robin Gunningham. The exhibition featured live pigs and cows, one of which featured many of Andy Warhol's heads. The English queen was depicted as a monkey. The animal rights activist chained herself to the fence in protest, but the Royal Society for the abuse with animals allowed to hold an exhibition. In the same year, Banksy, pretending to be a pensioner, came to the Tate Modern and pasted a picture on the wall condemning the war in Iraq: the image hung for two and a half hours.
Painting by Edouard Manet A parody of the painting by E. Manet "Breakfast on the Grass". © Banksy
Robin's mother, Pamela, lives in a neat one-story house in a village near Bristol. After explaining that we were journalists, we asked her if she had a son named Robin. She reacted very strangely. We showed her a photo from Jamaica. It was evident that she was dumbfounded, while she said that she did not recognize the person from the photograph, who, by the way, was very similar to her. We asked if she could help us get in touch with him. She replied, "I'm afraid I don't know how to contact him." So she does have a son named Robin? “No, no. I don't have a son at all." We asked if she had children. "Yes, there is a daughter." But she doesn't have a son who went to Bristol Cathedral School? "Not". She began to deny that she is Pamela Gunningham, insisting that there was an error in the electoral lists.
Works created for Blur's album Think Tank.
© Banksy
"Girl-cosmonaut and a bird"
A conversation with Peter Gunningham, who now lives in the suburb of Kingsdown in Bristol, also left us very puzzled. We showed a photo of Banksy / Robin Gunningham. Mr Gunningham said he did not recognize the person in the picture. We said we think his son is Banksy. He replied: “No. I'm afraid I really can't help you." Mr. Gunninghay continued to politely deny that his son is Banksy, though he did not seem very serious. He refused to say anything about Robin. All this was very strange. If they had never heard of Banksy or Robin Gunningham, they would be at a loss. But there was something wrong here. Then we contacted the person in charge of Banksy's public relations, and he, in the best traditions of Banksy, neither confirmed nor denied our story and promised to contact us. When the material went to press, we were still waiting for his response.
Banksy once told Swindle magazine: “I’m not interested in revealing my identity. I think there are already enough arrogant jerks who try to block you with their ugly faces. Given that Banksy has been successfully covering his tracks for a very long time, it is certainly possible that the trail we were following was a false one, that it was a well-thought-out deception. But if so, then this is the most elaborate scheme of subterfuge that has ever been devised. And if so, where is Robin Gunningham then?
All that is known about Banksy is that he was born in Bristol around 1974, which may or may not be called Robert Banks. That what he does is illegal and at least falls under the articles of "vandalism" and "hooliganism", because he hides his face and is in no hurry to bathe in the glory, and communicates with exhibition curators and journalists exclusively through an agent. At the same time, his works are sold at fabulous prices for a "hooligan". On the eve of the next auction, which will sell his graffiti "Girl with a Flower" (estimate, by the way, 150 thousand dollars), the editors of the Weekend project compiled a guide to the most significant work Banksy, which can explain why a grown man runs around the roofs at night with a stencil and a can of paint.
"Pulp Fiction" / Pulp Fiction (2002)
© Photo: ART SERIES HOTEL GROUP"Pulp Fiction" by Banksy
This image, which appeared in 2002 near Old Street Underground Station in London, replicated a scene from a Quentin Tarantino film with cinematic accuracy, except for one detail: the heroes of Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta were carrying bananas instead of guns.
In April 2007, the London Transport Service painted over the graffiti because of the "excessive cruelty of the depicted scene and the corrupting effect on society." At that time, the estimated value of the work reached 300 thousand pounds. The press service of the company explained the actions of the employees succinctly: "In our state there are professional cleaners, not professional art critics."
The stencil is still popular: at the end of 2011, the Australian hotel chain announced a promotion: as part of the Steal Banksy game, Banksy's work appeared in one of the chain's hotels, and any guest could take it away, and if the "theft" was not noticed by security , then the "criminal" could keep the illustration for himself. Two works participated in the action: No Ball Games and Pulp Fiction. As a result, the tenants managed to take out only the first work worth 15 thousand dollars, while the second one was sent by the chain's owners to Crime Stoppers Australia, which put it up for auction. In hotels, for a long time after that, there was an announcement that the action was over and it was no longer worth "stealing".
Kissing Constables / Kissing Policemen (2004)
Graffiti in London's Brighton near Trafalgar Street has become a kind of attraction: any tourist considered it his duty to include the wall next to the Prince Albert Pub in his itinerary. But just a year after the creation, the image was transported to New York and sold at auction.
Banksy's work inspired the Russian art group "Blue Noses" to create the controversial photograph "Era of Mercy" (2004). Three years later, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Alexander Sokolov called the exhibition Tretyakov Gallery in Paris (2007), at which it was planned to present this work, and then completely accused the management of the Tretyakov Gallery of deliberate provocation. Sokolov promised to do everything to ensure that the picture did not get to the review. The photograph did not participate in the exposition "Sots Art. Political Art in Russia", but it got to the international art fair FIAC, which was held in Paris at the same time.
£10 with Princess Diana (2004)
© Banksy Banknotes with Princess Diana Banksy (Banksy's Princess Diana Banknotes)
In 2004, Banksy made a batch of 10-pound notes, where the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was replaced by the portrait of the deceased Lady Di, and the inscription "Bank of England" was corrected to "Banksy of England". It is difficult to say whether the joke was a success: several banknotes were handed out at the Notting Hill Carnival festival, the banknotes began to diverge, and almost no one noticed the difference until the artist himself realized that he had unwittingly become a counterfeiter:
"I printed a million pounds, I just wanted to throw it off the roof, but I gave a few away at the festival, and they went and spent it. You know:" I have two beers "- they were given beer. Nobody noticed! And when it happened, we understood: we forged a million! And for this you can thunder for ten years. And now they lie with me and I don’t know what to do with them, "he tells his friend in the documentary film" Exit through the souvenir shop ".
In October 2007, an uncut sheet of ten of these notes went under the hammer at a Bonhams auction for £24,000.
"Napalm" / Napalm (2004)
The graffiti depicts symbols of American culture Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse holding the hands of a crying naked girl. Her image is from a Napalm image taken on June 8, 1972 by Associated Press photographer and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Nick Ut during the Vietnam War. A 9-year-old girl flees her home in the Tran Ban area with her brother and other children after a heavy bombing. Children run along the road leading from Saigon towards the border with Cambodia, where there was also a civil war at that time and the territories were constantly attacked by the US Air Force.
There is no need to comment on this work by Banksy. Coincidentally, it is this print - scourge of the consumer society - that is most popular in America, and is replicated on T-shirts, mugs and other souvenirs.
Graffiti in Palestine (2005)
© Banksy
In the summer of 2005, Banksy went to Palestine. Against UN protests, a multi-meter concrete barrier between Palestine and Israel was erected on the West Bank of the Jordan River. The artist used the wall as a 425 mile long canvas to express his reaction to the events of the time. Every morning on his website, he published another drawing from the wall with a caustic caption: "Festive snapshot." Most often, children became the characters of graffiti, as the main victims of the military conflict, and the wall, according to the plot of the illustration, was necessarily destroyed.
Banksy later explained the message on his website:
"The Israeli government is building a wall around the occupied Palestinian territories. It is three times the height of the Berlin Wall, and eventually reaches 700 km in length - the distance from London to Zurich. The wall violates international law and, in essence, turns Palestine into the largest world's open prison."
Phone Booth Corpse/Crumpled Phone Booth (2006)
The sculpture stood in London's Soho for only one night - and during that night it managed to cause a heated discussion. The townspeople were divided into two camps: the first saw a high modern Art, the second - a mockery of the main symbol of London. British Telecommunications regarded the work as a reaction to the message about the rebranding and the intention to abandon classic look pay phones.
"Someone is very annoyed by our phone booths!" comments a passing lady in the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.
There is a version that this is a peculiar mourning of the artist for the outgoing culture of live communication in the era of the development of the Internet and social networks.
Naked Man Hanging from Window (2006)
The graffiti was painted on the wall of an STD clinic on Park Street in central Bristol. The plot of the illustration is eternal: a completely naked lover hangs from the windowsill, and a jealous husband looks out of the window in the other direction, his wife in her underwear behind him. And if the man in the suit turns his head the other way, the couple will be caught in an awkward situation.
The city council decided to keep the drawing and even paid for its restoration after vandals shot it with a paintball gun. Since then, the authorities have begun to treat graffiti as an art (albeit still banned), and it is considered vandalism to paint over the work of street artists. But even despite this, Banksy still remains incognito - he broke the law too many times.
Prisoner of Guantanamo at American Disneyland (2006)
© Banksy
On the eve of another anniversary of September 11, when Banksy was preparing for an exhibition in Los Angeles, he came up with the idea to make an installation on the theme of terrorist suspects sitting in Guantanamo Bay. At Disneyland, he set up a dummy dressed as a prisoner next to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction. The doll stood there for an hour and a half before it was noticed. The management stopped the attraction, began to close the park in parts, "suddenly it turned out that this was very, very serious." The purpose of the artist was to draw attention to the situation of prisoners at the American base at Guantanamo after cases of torture of prisoners became known.
Naturally, it is purely technically impossible for Banksy to act alone; there is, albeit a very narrow circle of people who know him and whom he can unconditionally trust. That day at Disneyland added another to the list: Frenchman Thierry Guetta. The future Mr Brainwash, who filmed the entire process on camera, was detained next to the Banksy installation and subjected to a four-hour interrogation.
"When Thierry stood up to the entire security service of Mickey Mouse, did not flinch, did not give up, he hid the cassette in his sock - after that I trusted him in everything. He was my man."
Film "Exit through the Gift Shop" / Exit through the Gift Shop (2010)
Initially, the picture was shot not by Banksy at all, but by the same Thierry Guetta. He was obsessed with filming and constantly said that he was making documentaries about street art. He was the first (and probably the last) person with a camera that Banksy let into the workflow:
"Thierry has become something of an outlet for me: I hid everything for so many years that it was time to trust someone."
The film did not really work out, Banksy took up editing on his own, and instead of a picture about a partisan artist from Bristol, a story came out about how Mr Brainwash was born. In fact, the Shrinkman is also a kind of brainchild of Banksy, because it was Banksy who inspired Thierry Guetta to make art, showed how to work with stencils, and recommended his first exhibition.
