According to Hattenstone, 'anonymity is vital to him because graffiti is illegal'. He looks like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of The Streets.' Banksy began as an artist at the age of 14, was expelled from school, and served time in prison for petty crime. In a 2003 interview with Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian, Banksy is described as 'white, 28, scruffy casual-jeans, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. Identityīanksy's name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. In 2014, he was awarded Person of the Year at the 2014 Webby Awards. In January 2011, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the film. Banksy's documentary film Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. A small number of Banksy's works are officially, non-publicly, sold through an agency created by Banksy named Pest Control. Much of his work can be classified as temporary art. Banksy no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but his public 'installations' are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall they were painted on. īanksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack.

Banksy's work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.

His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation.

Al jackson hold on to hope