Banksy
The Man Behind the Wall
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
For someone who shuns the limelight so completely that he conceals his name, never shows his face and gives interviews only by email, Banksy is remarkably famous.
From his beginnings as a Bristol graffiti artist, his artwork is now sold at auction for six-figure sums and hangs on celebrities’ walls. The appearance of a new Banksy is national news, his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was Oscar-nominated and people queue for hours to see his latest exhibition. Now more National Treasure than edgy outsider, who is Banksy and how did he become what he is today?
In the first attempt to tell the full story of Banksy’s life and career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of his world and unpicks its contradictions. Whether art or vandalism, anti-establishment or sell-out, Banksy and his work have become a cultural phenomenon and the question ‘Who is Banksy?’ is as much about his career as it is ‘the man behind the wall’.
'Britain's unlikeliest national treasure' Independent
‘A fascinating portrait that elicits admiration for a man who, despite his increasingly unconvincing efforts to retain some shred of his vandal status, has had an undeniable impact on art’ The Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's perfectly true that, as subversive street artist Banksy has said, "Art comes alive in the arguments you have about it." Journalist Ellsworth-Jones (We Will Not Fight) chronicles the Banksy phenomenon from the streets to the upscale auction houses, while exploring the lively issues that Banksy has raised since becoming a novelty in the art market, one who now leads a fairly lucrative operation cloaked in secrecy. Bound to fuel more "sell-out" criticism, Ellsworth-Jones's vivid portrait shows Banksy attempting to hold on to the spirit of the graffiti subculture while simultaneously forsaking it. Banksy once deplored galleries as " trophy cabinets for a handful of millionaires,'" though he is now one of the "trophies." His anonymity has added to his intrigue and become a "marketing tool," according to Banksy's friend and peer Shepard Fairey. Paradoxically, Banksy has used lawyers and contracts like a "control-freak." (Banksy prevented one of Ellsworth-Jones's interviews with another graffiti artist, and through his authentication agency demanded the book be marked "unofficial"). Nevertheless, Ellsworth-Jones clearly respects Banksy's art, and celebrates how the artist ushered the masses out of "the wilderness" and "into the art world." (Some, however, will disagree with his claim that without Banksy "there would be not be a street art market.") Whether a Banksy follower or not, a reader will find this excellent contemporary art story speaks volumes about celebrity.
