Banksy British Graffiti Artist Creates Art with a Social Message

Activism

20091118we-banksy-art-flower-thrower-chuckerBanksy is the name of a British graffiti artist and prankster. His art addresses various cultural and social issues such as commercialism in society, government surveillance of citizens, and violence in society.

Some of his graffiti is simply graffiti about graffiti and society’s response to it. Often his art presents contrasting images such as a clash between police and innocence, a fusion of religious icons with consumerism, or unexpected images such as the protestor shown here who is poised to throw a bouquet of flowers rather than a rock or malakoff cocktail.

A Wikipedia page about Banksy is dedicated to more information about him, and a gallery can be found on the Art of the State website.

“The Banksy image that I like best is that of a protestor poised to throw a bouquet of flowers. It communicates the intense energy, passion, and focus of those engaged in ‘the resistance’ while also conveying the methods to be used such as art, humor, and general transcendence.” ~ Gregory Johnson

Resources

Below are links to other helpful Banksy resources.

Manifesto

In recent history, Banksy’s website included a Manifesto. It was a story that describes the very heroic efforts of graffiti artists to free a prisoner who, it was believed, had been wrongly accused of a robbery.

“In 1974 a 33 year old man named George Davis was convicted of robbing the payroll of the London Electricity Board in Ilford. He was nailed on the evidence of cops who were outside the bank at the time of the robbery and was sent to prison for 20 years. … The campaign [to release him] brought the case to the attention of the Home Secretary who after a police inquiry released Davis two years into his sentence using the highly exceptional and controversial Royal Prerogative of Mercy. … The fight to free George Davis was one of the most spetacular campaigns ever fought against injustice, an achievement only slightly marred when a year after his release Davis was found guilty of robbing the Bank of Cyprus for which he served six years, and three years after which he was caught red-handed robbing a mail train.”

Selected Works

Below are some samples of the work that Banksy has done. More can be found on Banksy’s website or by doing a Google search.

banksy-graffiti-native-american-no-trespassing-sign

banksy-graffiti-police-escort-donut

banksy-graffiti-when-at-first-you-dont-succeed-call-an-airstrike

20091118we-banksy-art-police-officer-inspecting-dorothy-basket-large

20091118we-banksy-dancing-toxic-waste-crudeoil

20091118we-banksy-girl-frisking-cop-police-officer

20091118we-banksy-abe-lincoln-homeless

20091118we-banksy-luxury-loft-complex-coming-soon

20091118we-banksy-cctv-surveillance-in-nature

20091118we-banksy-feed-the-world-fat-couple-small-child-pulling-rickshaw-cart

20091118we-banksy-fighter-jet-aircraft-carrier-applause

20091118we-banksy-girl-television-tv-love

20091118we-banksy-hunters-shopping-carts-tribal-grass

20091118we-banksy-laugh-now-but-one-day-we-will-be-in-charge-monkey-chimpanzee

20091118we-banksy-rat-its-not-a-race

20091118we-banksy-rat-with-paint-roller

20091118we-banksy-sale-ends-today

20091118we-banksy-so-little-to-say-and-so-much-time

20091118we-banksy-surveillance-what-are-you-looking-at

Global Interest in Banksy Graffiti

The maps below show recent visitors to this page, mostly as a result of Google searches. This represents the world-wide interest in Banksy and the impact of his social graffiti art.

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Document History. This page was first created on 20080817at1358. Additional images and text were added on 20091118we1440. The image collection has now been permalinked and locally hosted. On 20131127we1012 the above page visit maps were added.

By Greg Johnson

Greg Johnson is a freelance writer in Iowa City and also the founder and Director of the ResourcesForLife.com website. He also manages IowaCityWebDesignArtist.com and many other topic specific websites. Learn more at AboutGregJohnson.com