People are obsessed with Banksy.
Ever wonder why there are so many conspiracy theories floating around out there? It's because the world is filled with crazies who love storytelling. Banksy's anonymity entices them and fuels the fire for the best game ever: guessing who the @$%# Banksy is!
When it comes to this illusive street artist, there's no lack of oddball theories to excite those wannabe Sherlocks. Here are just a few of the many, many speculations about the identity of this iconic street artist:
- Banksy is actually a woman, or rather an art collective lead by a woman.
- Banksy once starred in a documentary on street art entitled Exit Through the Gift shop, in which he teams up with pretentious French artist Mr. Brainwash. While this movie is a commentary on how commercial street art is getting, many also see this film as a mock-umentary and suggest Mr. Brainwash is actually Banksy himself.
- Elitist artist Damien Hirst actually funds Banksy’s career as a backwards attempt to gain more notoriety for his own work. (Banksy has been known to slander Hirst's art but all press is good press, right?)
As fun and diverse as these theories are, Sartle wants to give you the stone cold facts. So here are some things that we actually know about Banksy:
- He is the most famous street artist. Ever.
- His work is so covetable that people actually strip the outside of buildings off so they can turn around and sell his pieces. Not a bad idea considering his art has been known to fetch over 1.8 million in auction...
- He made it onto Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2010, in the company of Barack Obama and Steve Jobs.
- He used to sneak his art into museums and hang his work on the walls alongside masterpieces. Instead of getting in trouble, many of the museums ultimately adopted these works into their permanent collection.
As much as it may peeve us to think we may never truly know who this artist is, we may have to live with not knowing. Banksy once said, “I figure there are enough self-opinionated a$$holes trying to get their ugly little faces in front of you as it is.” Well, he's not wrong.
While his identity may remain a mystery, we'll never forget his cheeky stenciled graffiti drenched in political leftism. Also with this artist’s conniving antics that captivate the public’s attention and raise questions about the commodification of street art, it is doubtful that Banksy's reputation will fade. His career is simply too juicy for gossip driven art nerds like us.
I have always been a huge fan of street art. I had no idea who Banksy was until one day, I saw what appeared to be his work on side of my friend's building. When she told me it was by him, I knew that I needed to find out more about him.