
Banksy is a street graffiti artist living in England just outside of  London.  His graffiti art has brought him worldwide acclaim … in the  last few years his work has been exhibited around the globe and he is  now internationally recognised as the king of graffiti art!
 Banksy Is The World’s Most Wanted Graffiti Artist Article  on the street artist called "Banksy".
 You can see graffiti in every country in the world. It often defaces  walls, poles, trains and the fronts and sides of buildings. Graffiti is  considered undesirable vandalism to its victims who spend time and money  to paint over or wash it off their property. Indeed, graffiti painting  is an ongoing problem in many subway stations and on public walkways,  signs, cement walls, and other locations.
   However, on the streets of the United Kingdom near London, an artist  called Banksy continues to gain international recognition and fame for  his graffiti. The fact is that Banksy’s "street art" has become  immensely popular with both pedestrians and private art collectors  alike. In the last several years, there have been a number of  exhibitions and auctions of Banksy’s art work as his popularity has  soared.
  The growing popularity of his art is in evidence in the secondary  market where a painting titled "Space Girl and Bird" sold for $575,000  in an auction event last year (2007). In fact, Banksy’s art can now be  found in many private art collections worldwide. Banksy has also  produced leaflets and books on art and has his own website. He  self-published his first three books, "Existencilism," "Banging Your  Head Against a Brick Wall," and "Cut It Out."
   His latest book called, "Wall and Piece," was published by Random  House and has already sold more than two hundred and fifty thousand  copies. Nevertheless, Banksy continues to keep his real identity secret  to avoid arrest and prosecution. His anonymity is said to be born of a  desire to be a "quality vandal" and to elude the police. He once said,  "Imagine a city where graffiti wasn’t illegal, a city where everybody  could draw wherever they liked, where the street was awash with a  million colors and little phrases. . . . A city that felt like a party  where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big  business." He has a unique view of the art world as well. He has said,  "The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the  over-privileged, the pretentious, and the weak."
  Banksy’s graffiti began appearing on trains and walls around  Bristol, England in 1993. By 2001, his street art could be seen all over  the United Kingdom. His art has a distinctive style which makes it easy  to recognize. It features attention to detail and uses layered  stenciling and spray paint. Banksy uses familiar images and his pictures  contain dark humor and are often controversial. His art is often  focused around anti-war, anti-establishment, and anti-capitalism themes.  Sometimes Banksy’s works have a pro-freedom message.
  Banksy uses rats as images in many of his pictures. His most famous  street paintings are a series of black-and-white stenciled rats. Many of  these rats are created to be larger than life. The rats have become  immensely popular with London pedestrians. A "gangster rat," painted on a  wall near the Smithfield market, wears a peace-sign medallion and  carries a sign that says "Welcome to Hell." Another rat holds a sign  that reads, "Please love me."
  Other Banksy art features the image of two policemen kissing painted  on a public wall. In another picture a military helicopter is adorned  with a pink bow. Winston Churchill has a Mohawk haircut in another. He  has even produced revisionist oil paintings such as Mona Lisa with a  yellow smiley face, and a pastoral landscape surrounded by crime-scene  tape. Banksy, dressed in a disguise, installed them in the Louvre and  the Tate.
  Banksy often uses public walls as a background to display his art.  Although recently he has been creating art on canvas as well. In  addition, Banksy sometimes enters museums and galleries to add his own  art to the museum collections. In the last several years, Banksy’s  street art has been seen internationally. It has been found in the  Middle East on Israel’s West Bank barrier, and in various countries  worldwide including Spain, Palestine, Germany, and the United States. He  painted the security fence at Bethlehem with a scene of a hole in the  concrete barrier. The hole revealed a glittering beach on the other  side.
  Banksy is viewed by people in many different ways. To some he is an  anti-hero who touches the public conscience. Others think of him as an  anti-social rogue who vandalizes public property. Some people who have  done business with him consider him to be both a genius and a madman.  Many view him as unique and irreverent.
  On his website Banksy states that he has bought a taller ladder to  use in his work. So there can be no doubt that his graffiti ("street  art") will continue. For their part, the authorities in the United  Kingdom will continue to try to identify and subsequently arrest Banksy,  the world’s most wanted graffiti artist.
  James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for  some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for  the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting  support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith  has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing  articles on political, national, and world events.
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