Blog 5 - My favorite street artist

  Banksy is the pseudonym by which the popular English street artist is known and, although most of the information about his identity is unknown, some research indicates that he was born in a town near Bristol in 1974. Very little is known about Banksy himself, since he refuses to be interviewed and carefully maintains his anonymity.

The British street art artist began his career in the 1990s as part of an art collective that managed to produce his works without being arrested for vandalism. This origin was what led him to use the stencil, because it allowed him to work faster and thus not be caught by the police.

Most of his works, visible in London and in various cities around the world, are pieces on pop culture, morals, politics, consumerism and racism. His works speak of the evils that the world and laugh sarcastically at the hypocrisy and selfish lifestyle of modern societies.

I find his work admirable, since as a good street artist he manages to install a very lucid political discourse in his works, and uses a very attractive and intelligent subversive language to make social problems visible. I also believe that his anonymity puts in value what he says and not who he is, stepping aside to thereby privilege his message, which is something important to rescue from an artist with a social conscience. As well, it should be noted that despite the fact that it takes him just a couple of minutes to paint his works, his technique is worthy of admiration.