Banksy

British　1975

Born in the UK, Banksy is famous for his graffiti art, and as a social movement activist, a film director also a painter. He is still active in anonymity. Banksy utilizes graffiti art and humorous slogans, to convey anti-war and anti-capitalist messages. He mainly uses template to create graffiti, and often adopt the imagery of mice, children, soldiers, monks, etc., his iconic style is popular all over the world.

In 2010, Banksy was nominated amongst Bill Gates and Barack Obama as TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. In 2016, his Solo Exhibition “War, Capitalism and Liberty”, a thought-provoking exhibition was held at Palazzo Cipolla, in Rome, Italy. Later, Steve Lazarides, Banky’s former agent curated “The Art of Banksy” exhibition in 2018, showcasing more than 80 works throughout his artistic career, this exhibition is to be known as one of the most completed collection of Banksy.

Since 2003, Banksy begun to mock the definition of Art by secretly putting his own graffiti next to master pieces in prestigious museums such as the Metropolitan Museum, New York, The Louvre Museum, Paris, and Tate in London. Afterwards, these controversial graffiti were archived and collected by the museums. In 2018, the exhibition “I object: Ian Hislop's search for dissent” at the British Museum once again exhibits his The Peckham Rock, indicating his significance within the canon of the contemporary art scene.