Biography of Banksy

Banksy is an anonymous graffiti artist who is well

known for his antiauthoritarian art, which is often
done in public places. He is thought to have been
born on the 28th of July 1974 (if this is true he
would be 47) Bristol, England where some say he
later studied in Bristol Cathedral School and St
Brendan’s Sixth Form College.

Even though Banksy’s true identity is only known

to some, he was recognised as a freehand graffiti
artist in 1993. To enhance his speed Banksy started
using stencils in the year 2000, painting rats and
policeman to communicate his antiauthoritarian
message. In the 2003 exhibition Turfwar, he painted
on the bodies of live pigs. 2 years later at his
Crude Oils exhibition in London, which showed
slightly changed replicas of the art of Claude
Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Edward Hopper, he
released 200 live rats into the gallery. In 2005,
fully disguised Banksy installed his own works of
art on the walls of major museums in New York and
London, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and Tate Britain.

A canvas version of one of Banksy’s most popular

murals, Balloon Girl, surprised onlookers at an
auction when the work “self-destructed” by partly
shredding right after selling for $1.4 million.
After rumours of the stunt and involvement of the
auction house became viral on social media, Banksy
posted a video claiming credit for the prank. He
released another video later, suggesting that the
shredder, which was hidden in the frame, was meant
to destroy the painting completely but had
malfunctioned. Banksy’s authentication bureau,
Pest Control, also published a certificate saying
that the destroyed work had become a new piece of
art with a new name, Love is in the Bin. It sold in
2021 for $25 million, beating Banksy’s previous
auction record, which had been set by Game Changer
in 2020, when it sold for $22 million.