How Bambi, the female Banksy, became the new star of street art From Kanye West to Brad Pitt, the A list are queuing to buy work by the Londoner who's determined to stay anonymous: The Guardian, Vanessa Thorpe, Saturday 16 August 2014 ‘She has spent years dodging the police in north London, armed with her spray cans and stencils, but this summer Britain's leading femnale street artist, Known as Bambi, has been propelled into a world ‘of wealth and glamour. When rapper Kanye West presented the artist's semi-nude portrait of his brid Kim Kardashian, as a wedding gif, it was a bling crowning moment forthe artist. Just who is Bambi? The graffti star was dubbed “the female Banksy" when she gained more widespread public attention in 2011 with the appearance of her striking image of the late Amy Winehouse on a Camden Town doorway. Like her male counterpart, she keeps her identity secret. And ‘now, just like the renowned Bristol artis, her work costs tens of thousands of pounds: where once she simply paid tribute to the style of celebrities such as Winehouse, David Beckham and Kate Moss. ‘Today she is commissioned by international A-list entertainers, including Rihanna, Robbie Williams, ‘Angelina Jolie and Brad Pit. Famous names are queueing up to buy her work. Bambis restored painting of Winehouse, once painted over by the local council, now lies reverently protected under Perspex. American actress Michelle Rodriguez, star of Lost, commissioned a Bambi portrait of her then girlfriend, supermodel Cara Delevingne, and Pitt is thought to have paid £60,000 for Bambi's wedding portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, featuring the slogan “A bit ike Marmite”, before commissioning further portraits of his own family Robbie Wiliams bought Bambi's image of a baby before his child was born in 2012, while his former ‘Take That colleague Mark Owen spent £20,000 on one of the artist's works for his 40th birthday. Singer Adele and Harry Styles, of One Direction, are also believed to own pieces by Bambi (..) ‘An exhibition at Sakhai’s gallery, called When Banksy Met Bambi, displayed works by the two artists alongside each other. @ Both started out as outsiders intending to undermine the sleek world of the modern art market "There seemed to me to be a big divide between the diy, organic, smelly process of art making and those sterile spaces in which art was being shown,” Bambi said last month. She added that her secret identity remains important: "The main reason is for security and the other is creative freedom. » Many other street artists, including the increasingly sought-after Plastic Jesus, who shares a gallery with Bambi, have hidden identities. The fake names or "tags" were originally designed to protect them {rom the law, since defacing property is a criminal offence. Artistic cachet undoubtedly comes with such secrecy as well (..). Scanned by TapScanner