Banksy: Wall and Piece

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Banksy is the world's most famous living artist, yet no one knows who he is. For more than twenty years, his wryly political and darkly humorous spray paintings have appeared mysteriously on urban walls around the globe, generating headlines and controversy. Art critics disdain him, but the public (and the art market) love him. With this generously illustrated book, artist and critic Carol Diehl is the first author to probe the depths of the Banksy mystery. Through her exploration of his paintings, installations, writings, and Academy Award-nominated film, Exit through the Gift Shop , Diehl proves unequivocally that there's more to Banksy than the painting on the wall. Just think about it, Banksy is an artist or a group of artists that no one really knows anything about? Crazy huh? In the world of internet and social media, where everyone knows everything about everyone. Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. It's not just about - and this isn't me blowing my trumpet - but this isn't just about the artwork itself," he says. "It's about him putting the artwork up. It was about trying to find things I thought would be of interest. It's a different view."

I had never even studied art, let alone knew what was going on, did a history of art degree, or worked in a gallery or a museum. We just put a rule of sort of logic towards it, towards the way we structured things, til we were getting huge clients coming by. Damien Hirst, I put the phone down on five times in a row because I thought it was a crank call.He says he is proud to be connected with the world's most famous artist, "not just in this era, but any era". They absolutely hated us because they'd come and say, 'you can't do this'. Well, that's funny, because we just did it. 'You can't charge that amount of money for canvases.' Well, we did and we keep going. It's only in the last five or six years that graffiti has become almost impossible to get arrested for. You know, before that, these guys were really risking their liberty. So his anonymity was born from that." Well Hung Lover (2006), mural by Banksy in Bristol, England; the blue paint was added by vandals. (more)

It really resonated with the times and it was interesting - and so much art is f****** boring. The reason people liked it is because they could get it. He didn't make people feel stupid. He resonated with people. Is this the closest the world will ever get to seeing Banksy? Who knows. Maybe he will reveal himself, one day?Also from Banksy's reputed hometown of Bristol, Lazarides met the artist in the mid-'90s, when he was working as a photographer and photo editor for culture magazine Sleaze Nation. Editor Steve Beale "caught wind of this guy called Banksy, so we went down and I managed to negotiate a meet with him, photographed him. It went from there. I was his documenter for the first couple of years and then I went on to kind of manage him, sell his paintings - and the rest is history". One of the reasons everyone became so famous and so powerful was the internet. Suddenly everything changed. The rules were different. Tell me one gallery in the world that can get a f****** million hits in, like, 10 minutes. No way. There's no museum, there's no gallery, there's nothing. Lazarides says there was no animosity when they parted ways. He had to take a break; managing Banksy as his fame grew became "all-consuming".