Banksy: art or vandalism

Banksy is a fictitious name used by the internationally acclaimed British graffiti artist. Although much uncertainty remains about his biographical and personal details, Banksy is believe to be a native of Yate, South Gloucestershire near Bristol. According to Tristan Manco, Banksy "was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. 

The son of a photocopier technician, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s." (Tristan Manco, Stencil Graffiti, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002, p.74) It is believed that Banksy started his graffiti career as most do, with 'tagging' which constitutes in a person having their own signature which they write in any available public space. 

He later became part of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ) meaning that a group of graffiti artists get together and all write the same 'tag', in this case the 'tags' chosen were:Kato and Tes''. 

However Banksy only became well known after he employed a technique of stenciling within his graffiti street art. He claims he made the decision of using sencils whilst hiding from the police under a train: 'As I lay here listening to the cops...I realized I had to cut my painting time in half or give up altogether. I was staring straight up at the stenciled plate on the bottom of a fuel tank when I realized I could just copy that style and make each letter three feet high' (Banksy: Wall and Piece).  

After having this epiphany it is clear that Banksy studied the work of previous stencil artists, in particular the work of Blek Le Rat was a major influence on his art.  

Banksy's street art is often laced with satire on topics such as politics, culture and ethics. One Nation Under CCTV is taken from the communist slogan: One Nation Under Communism, this phrase can be found in George Orwell's 1984 novel and here Banksy outlines that the power of CCTV can be as powerful and as restraining as Communism was, furthermore it allows us little freedom as everything is watched by those in authority. 
The play on words and simple images in Banksy's street art carry very powerful political messages.

Most of street work found on walls or billboards in cities around the world continues to be considered graffiti and therefore a form of public vandalism so the artist remains anonymous and continues to use the pseudonym 'Banksy'. He can be anybody living anywhere, so next time a hooded guy with spray marks on his jeans is sitting next to you on the tube or the bus ...you never know eh?

The debate still continues whether these pieces are artwork or vandalism, but I wonder if the only reason why Banksy's work is considered vandalism is because of the location where he choose to present his art. Yet if his art was taken out of the context in which he has place it, would it have as much meaning and powerful message as it does?

But it seems that Banksy will appear on a feature lenght film at the Sundance film festival this Sunday.


(images from www.banksy.co.uk)