Banksy in Bethlehem: Art and the Barrier Between Two Nations

Banksy visit to the West Bank brought up a string of controversy, on both sides. His art, however, remains appropriately controversial and intriguing.

His art always makes a not-so-subtle social statement. His rats, perhaps, representing the “rat race” of modern society.
To any graffiti artist, an unadorned wall takes on the temptation of an artist’s easel.
When Israel built the controversial 436 mile long security barrier to separate itself from the Palestinian Authority controlled areas, they might as well have sent out an invitation to Banksy at the same time!
He is quoted by The Mail Online as saying: “The segregation wall is a disgrace…The possibility I find exciting is that you could turn the world’s most invasive and degrading structure into the world’s longest gallery of free speech and bad art.” A UK television station, Channel 4, ran a news item quoting Banksy’s attitude to the wall: “It turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison,” and described the wall as “the ultimate Graffiti Artists’ holiday destination.”
His art is unquestionably intriguing.
So with this huge canvas available, Banksy took his “holiday” in 2005.......

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Banksy Storms New Orleans: Banksy vs. the Grey Ghost

"I came to New Orleans to do battle with the Gray Ghost."

On August 28th 2008, the day before the third anniversary of the storm, the controversial British, urban guerilla graffiti artist Banksy travelled to New Orleans.

His plan: to hit the place fast and have his easily recognizable stencil based works in place to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
“Three years after Katrina I wanted to highlight the state of the clean up operation.

I looked out the window of the taxi on the drive into New Orleans and remarked “There’s still so much devastation I can’t believe they haven’t cleaned this mess up”, to which the driver
stared at me and said “This part of the city wasn’t affected by the hurricane-it’s always looked like this.””....

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Banksy: How to Make Millions with Spraycan and Stencil

The studio work.

The “urban graffiti” artist known only as Banksy is renowned for his street art. With his recognisable stencils and slogans adorning the walls of public buildings, his works are known for their humour and social and political comment.
There is however another side to Banksy: that of the studio artist.

The stencils are still a favoured medium, and several are recognisable as those used in some of his outdoor work......

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