Anonymity and Its Benefits: A Quick Trip Into Banksy's Art

A Banksy

Image from: www.weburbanist.com

“I have no interest in ever coming out. I’m just trying to make the pictures look good; I’m not into trying to make myself look good. And besides, it’s a pretty safe bet that the reality of me would be a crushing disappointment to a couple of 15-year-old kids out there.”

- Banksy -

To the informed, Banksy's name is synonymous to guerrilla art. To those who don't know jack at the moment – Banksy is a faceless, elusive and modern-day renaissance man. Revered and emulated in the sub-terran scene, scorned by some “critics” and imitated by corporate ad agencies.

I wouldn't consider my self a connoisseur of art, but I am a connoisseur life. So, Banksy is way up on the art category of my list. Beautiful Eyesore is a fitting description for his art. He is a nocturnal worker, quirky works just pop out of nowhere and on the most unlikely places; warehouses, junkyards, alleys and abandoned buildings. Come day time, he draws scratches from the heads of the citizens – then before you know it, his mystique just grows even more.

Banksy 1.0?

Image from: www.weburbanist.com

Obviously, a big factor is his anonymity. “Banksys” apparently have been interviewed a couple of times in the past. But without the assurance on whether they were dealing with the real deal. He is rumored to have a silver tooth, in his early thirties and some say, very average-looking. A chameleon perhaps.

Ah, the true evidence that Guerrilla-ism is a leveler of excess power and total control – in this case, in the art world. Everybody just dreams of doing that old cliche of “stickin' it up to the man”. Realistically and in my own opinion, this is not wholly possible if you are visible. A true Guerrilla has the advantage of just blending back into the “sea of society” and turn faceless, even among the very same people who are after him. I should be quoting someone for that line, that wasn't wholly mine, just the idea. Anyway, Banksy is the epitome of such. He is winning his war. On the other hand, he might just lose his greatest asset if he risks exposure. If I were him, I'd just keep it on the under.

-I.J.-

Beautiful Eyesore, Connoisseur of Life

----------------------------