Banksy
The anonymous street artist who shredded his own painting at auction and built a fake theme park.
Nobody knows who he is
Banksy is an anonymous street artist from Bristol, England. He works fast with stencils, leaves pieces overnight, and confirms them on Instagram. People have guessed his identity for decades. He’s never confirmed it.
The style
Simple images with a political punch: anti-war, anti-consumerism, anti-surveillance. A rioter throwing flowers instead of a bomb. A girl letting go of a red heart balloon.
The shredder
In 2018, Girl with Balloon sold at Sotheby’s in London for about £1 million. Seconds later, a shredder hidden in the frame cut it halfway. Banksy renamed it Love Is in the Bin. In 2021 it resold for about £18.6 million. The prank made it worth way more.
Bigger stunts
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010): a documentary about street art that got an Oscar nomination, and people still argue about whether it’s a prank.
- Dismaland (2015): a gloomy parody of Disneyland in an English seaside town.
- The Walled Off Hotel (2017): a hotel he opened in Bethlehem, next to the separation wall, filled with his art.
The street art problem
When a Banksy appears on a wall, the building can suddenly be worth more. Some get covered in plexiglass to protect them, some get cut out and sold, and some get painted over by the city.
Pop quiz
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