Bansky: ‘Bad Boy’ Graffiti artist

Admit it, this ‘pseudo-anonymous’  graffiti artist’s work is pretty intriguing …

Learn more about him here. And see more visuals here.

In his own words …

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.  … Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”

“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.” – taken from ADbusters magazine

“Some people want to make the world a better place. I just wanna make the world a better-looking place. If you don’t like it, you can paint over it!”

“Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums. Graffiti has more chance of meaning something or changing stuff than anything indoors. Graffiti has been used to start revolutions, stop wars, and generally is the voice of people who aren’t listened to. Graffiti is one of those few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make somebody smile while they’re having a piss.” – Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall

“Only when the last tree has been cut down and the last river has dried up will man realize that reciting red indian proverbs makes you sound like a fucking muppet”. Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall

“The artist Paul Klee said “drawing is like taking a line for a walk”, but for me it’s always been more like drowning a photocopier in a canal.”

“The craft is finding a decent drainpipe to get access to the site as much as it is in the art…Van Gogh used short, stumpy brush strokes to convey his insanity – I use short, thin ledges above mainline train tracks.” - Evening Post 2004 (taken from “Home Sweet Home – Banksy’s Bristol” by Steve Wright)