Street Cred

Banksy, the pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter, is not actually Paul William Horner, and his mystery makes him even cooler.

Banksy is known for his stencil work on the streets of England where he promoted strikingly truthful phrases paired with dark images that revealed his anti-war, capitalist, and establishment perspectives. The street is his canvas, and has Christened houses, museums, and “do not trespass” grounds with his works. He flees from the police, and for his entire artistic life has remained anonymous. He brings what many other street-artist predecessors have also introduced to the public – a form of art that breaks free from all rules, institutions, and inhibitions. They are representations of the people, a democratized perspective of sorts, which integrates into the very streets you walk and live every day. In 2010 he

created his first film, “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” showcasing “the inside story of Street Art – a brutal and revealing account of what happens when fame, money and vandalism collide,” and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Film in 2011.

Street art brings a sense of truth and excitement that traditional, gallery housed art lacks. The unavailability, raw perspective, and inherently cool factors make its study that much more exclusive and exciting.