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!