BANKSY

Perhaps the most famous figure in street art working today, Banksy is known for urban interventions that demonstrate irreverent wit and a biting political edge. Enhancing his mystique by maintaining an anonymous identity, the artist has modified street signs, illegally printed his own currency, and illicitly hung his own work in the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art. He often uses spray paint and stencils in his critiques of consumerism, political authority, terrorism, and the status of art and its display. His street art, installations, and studio-produced works have been shown in Los Angeles, New York, London, Bethlehem, and beyond. His art has been subject to widespread interest on the secondary market and has fetched eight figures at auction.

Banksy, a street artist whose identity remains unknown, is believed to have been born in Bristol, England, around 1974. He rose to prominence for his provocative stenciled pieces in the late 1990s. Banksy is the subject of a 2010 documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which examines the relationship between commercial and street art. The two names most often suggested to prove his identity are Robert Banks and Robin Gunningham. Pictures that surfaced of a man who was supposedly Banksy pointed toward Gunningham, an artist who was born in Bristol in 1973. Gunningham moved to London around 2000, a timeline that correlates with the progression of Banksy's artwork.

Banksy began his career as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s, in Bristol's graffiti gang DryBreadZ Crew. Although his early work was largely freehand, Banksy used stencils on occasion. In the late '90s, he began using stencils predominantly. His work became more widely recognized around Bristol and in London, as his signature style developed. Common subjects include rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and children. In addition to his two-dimensional work, Banksy is known for his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated of these pieces, which featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian wallpaper pattern, sparked controversy among animal rights activists. Banksy's worldwide fame has transformed his artwork from acts of vandalism to sought-after high art pieces. Journalist Max Foster has referred to the rising prices of graffiti as street art as "the Banksy effect." Interest in Banksy escalated with the release of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Academy Award.

In October 2013, Banksy took to the streets of New York City. There he pledged to create a new piece of art for each day of his residency. As he explained to the Village Voice, "The plan is to live here, react to things, see the sights — and paint on them. Some of it will be pretty elaborate, and some will just be a scrawl on a toilet wall." During that month, he also sold some of his works on the street for $60 a piece, well below the market value for his art.