Banksy

About Banksy

General information:

Banksy is an anonymous, British graffiti artist, famous for his stencil graffiti in Bristol and London. Thanks to this fact, it is expected that Banksy was born in Bristol. He's trying to keep his identity a secret - which is working until now - nevertheless there exist many speculations about his real identity.

About his art:

Banksy is a stencil graffiti artist and uses the technique of “Guerrilla communication” (form of activism whereby subversive effects are being provoked through interventions in the process of communication) and “Adbusters” (outdoor advertising is defamiliarized, pasted over or reshaped to change the sense or to be ridiculed.) Because of his provocative art Banksy is thought-provoking.
Banksy's art work has been exhibited in galleries since 2000, although he actually declines the art market. He demonstrated his refusal of the art market in a campaign in New York, selling his work to unaware people for bargain prices.

Films and videos:
Exit Through the Gift Shop is a documentation produced by Banksy. It was nominated for an Oscar and was released in the UK on March 5, 2010.

Moreover Banksy published the video "Make this the year. YOU discover a new destination." from the Gaza Strip in 2015. The video criticizes the devastation of the territory. Watch it here!


Identity:
The real name of Banksy is believed to be Rob, Robert or Robin Banks because he published three books under the name of "Robin Banksy." Furthermore he was called "Robin Banksy" in earlier interviews. However, the British boulevard-newspaper Daily Mail ascertained Banksy is Robin Gunningham who was born in Bristol on July 28th 1973. Gunningham descended from a middle-class family and visited a private school.
The word “gun” in his name could be an onomatopoeic equivalent of “Banksy." This is neither confirmed nor discounted by Banksy.



There's also the assumption that Banksy is a group of artists organised by women. One evidence might be that there exists no territory marking in the form of "tags", social equality is a central part of the artworks and feminine figures are used. Another indication that it's not one person but a group is that the voices in interviews are changing, sounding completely different each time.
Take a look at the “Banksy walking tour” where you can find his art in Bristol:
It is worth watching!

C215

C215

One of his artworks, Paris

C215, also known as Christian Guémy, born in 1973, is a French street artist focused on stencil graffiti. The ‘C’ in C215 represents his real name Christian, and the number signifies a hotel room in which he approximately decided what his life was going to look like. C215 liked the anonymity. He has been creating street art for about 20 years. In 2005 he started spray painting and today he's one of the most popular stencil artists who has already also been described as "France's answer to Banksy." Guémy’s daughter Nina is a popular subject of his stencil art. She has also become a stencil artist of her own.

Most of the time his work contains portraits of people. C215's subjects are typically those such as beggars, homeless people, refugees and street kids, representing the people that really belong to the streets, and kids who have no chance in life. He has practiced his art in cities all over the world. His stencils can be seen in Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Paris, Oslo and Colombo and Berlin as well. In addition to his street work, C215 also produces commercial artwork on wood for galleries.

C215 murals and stencils can be seen in the Internet very often, because they’re very popular.

The best part about C215’s job, in his opinion, is that he creates what he truly loves: his artwork. C215 doesn’t have to worry about working a traditional job under a boss. He also believes that one should never follow anyone, nor copy others. They should simply follow their own style and feeling.

No matter how many times I’m looking at artworks by Parisian street artist, I'm always wondering just how he makes them. The texture, the color, the detail, all made with stencils and spray paint on any available object! It's truly impressive, take a look!

A stencil of C215 in Paris