| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Banksy has become one of the world's most famous artists thanks to his controversial use of art supplies. The Bristolian has risen from being a teenage member of the DryBreadZ Crew graffiti gang to an internationally recognised artist whose satirical take on life is respected social commentary. Banksy's rapid rise began when he started to paint stencil drawings featuring striking and subversive images, which occasionally included anti-establishment and anarchic slogans. Fellow Bristolian, 3D from dance music group Massive Attack inspired Bansky to enter the world of graffiti and he started painting in the classic New York style of big letters and characters. The style was not to last as Banksy confessed that he had to dump the technique because it took too much time and left him vulnerable to arrest from the police for defacing public property and vandalism. The artist soon hit the big time when he moved to London and notable works in the capital include a painting of Charles Manson in a prison suit attempting to hitchhike, while in Shoreditch a British soldier is seen painting an anarchist sign on a wall. Bansky graffiti may gain popularity with the general public but local authorities are often averse to having overtly political art work on their streets and attempt to remove any new paintings. Banksy defends his use of art supplies by claiming that graffiti is a way of bringing art and culture to people who would otherwise denied access to exclusive exhibitions and galleries. "Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fill concert halls and cinemas every day, we read novels by the millions, and buy records by the billions," he wrote in Wall and Piece. Banksy's art is not always available on the streets as he has also exhibited his work on both sides of the Atlantic resulting in international fame, which he argues is both a blessing and a curse. Celebrities are always keen to get their hands on a Banksy as pop star Christina Aguilera bought an original of Queen Victoria as a lesbian and Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and his equally famous wife Angelina Jolie are also big fans. Despite the global adulation, Banksy has not forgotten his roots as he has helped raise over £45,000 for Bristol Museum when he held an exhibition in the institution in recent times. Visitors queued for six hours to enter the exhibition and the acceleration in Banksy's popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlesbacklink.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
