Banksy

Though he was one of the most relevant artists of his generation, Banksy was also the most mysterious-since almost no one knew his identity. Though the works he creates on canvases and other conventional mediums frequently sell in the hundreds of thousands, Banksy still regularly paints in his original format, which happens to be illegal: on the sides of buildings. His signature graffiti creations-constructed through the complex use of stencils and often mixing images from pop culture with anti-establishment social commentary-first began appearing around the English city of Bristol in the early '90s. In 1997, his first full mural appeared, an image of a teddy bear hurling a molotov cocktail at three riot police titled "The Mild, Mild West." By the early 2000s, his works were appearing in London as well, where they were slowly but surely becoming landmarks. Working through intermediaries to protect his anonymity, he began holding exhibitions, and gave some of the few interviews he would ever agree to, as his notoriety steadily rose. The journalists conducting these interviews later described Banksy as a white, British male, cementing the use of male pronouns in describing him, but it remains unknown whether Banksy actually attended these interviews, or simply sent a decoy in his place as an act of misdirection. After all, public officials like Transport for London and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg steadfastly rejected Banksy's works as simple acts of illegal vandalism. Owners of private property on which his works appeared however, have largely treasured his artworks as cultural landmarks. This attitude may have been bolstered by the value of Banksy's art, which sold at increasingly record-breaking prices throughout the 2000s and 2010s, reaching £102,000 in 2006, and £288,000 in 2007. Throughout this time, Banksy's art style would grow to include installations, animatronics, and even paintings on live animals. In 2010, his purview grew even larger when he directed the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" (2010), a profile of Los Angeles-based French immigrant Thierry Gutta, and his obsession with street art. The film was the subject of wide acclaim, drawing still more attention to Banksy as he pursued future projects, such as a 2013 "artist residency" in New York that included an unannounced pop-up shop selling original canvas paintings by the artist for $60 each. The subtext of the low-priced works only became more trenchant in 2018, when at the moment his painting "Balloon Girl" was declared sold for a staggering £1.04 million at a Sotheby's auction, a device inside the artwork activated, shredding half the canvas. It was confirmed that Banksy himself was behind the "prank," and the art world was fascinated by the artistic statement behind it, as the act had partially destroyed the painting, but the destruction itself had created a new artwork altogether-one exponentially more valuable.