How does banksy remain anonymous

Whatever Banksy's thought process is over this particular assertion of intellectual property rights, it's clear the shroud of anonymity is much more important to him than anything else. Which is why Neil Buchanan was so quick to deflect the spotlight when a recent online conspiracy placed him as the mysterious artist. Because, of course, that's exactly what Banksy would do. With a particular interest in branding and retro design, Georgia writes about everything from logo design to creative technology, enjoys hunting down genuinely good deals and has even used her knowledge as an ex-teacher to create buying guides on products including children's books and bookcases.

Tying these design interests together is an obsession with London Underground posters from the last century. Georgia Coggan. Topics Art. A lot of his art is done in a particular style which people can easily recognise. Although lots of people have tried to guess who he is, his identity has still not been revealed.

Banksy first got noticed for spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol during the early s. Street art and graffiti can be considered criminal damage, so in the beginning it's thought the artist stayed anonymous to keep out of trouble.

In the beginning his pieces were mainly in Bristol, but in the s his artworks started appearing all over the UK and other parts of the world. Banksy chose to use stencils to create his pieces, probably because it's a faster way to paint. He was influenced in his early days by a French graffiti artist called Blek le Rat.

Blek le Rat is considered to be the father of stencil graffiti and people sometimes confuse the work of the two artists. Banksy doesn't only do street art, he's produced drawings, paintings and installation pieces.

He even created his own theme park called Dismaland. Banksy's work is known for delivering political messages. In December , he raised the issue of homelessness with a mural showing two reindeer that appear to be pulling a sleigh. A piece in Port Talbot he made a piece showing a boy catching what appears to be snowflakes but is in fact ash from a fire.

This is thought to be about the problem of pollution. Banksy's work is very valuable and can go for thousands of pounds. Lots of people who love what he does, and are willing to pay a lot for his work. This was because of the artwork that it had on the side. Banksy has often made clear that he doesn't like his work selling for so much money.

And because many people consider street art to be vandalism, some of his work was painted over as soon as it appeared. Sometimes graffiti artists put their own work over it.

Because of this when a Banksy does appear the owner usually covers it up with plastic sheeting to protect it. There is a debate about why Banksy's work can be protected as 'art' when other graffiti artists are prosecuted and sometimes even put in prison for doing the same thing.

When Banksy leaves his artwork on buildings, there can sometimes be arguments about who owns the pieces and what should be done with them, as they are very valuable. However, his fame means that other people have tried to cash in where he cannot.

It has become common for art dealers and property owners to remove and sell entire walls which bear an original Banksy. The elusive painter has been able to make money by selling prints, which were previously distributed through a website called Pictures On Walls POW until it stopped operating in , and often featured the same iconic images he previously painted on city walls.

Either unable or unwilling to become part of the art market we once so self-righteously denounced — we called it quits. In addition, Banksy has made money from other projects, including his best-selling book Wall and Piece , and the Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. However, what we do know is that Banksy is not money-driven by any stretch of the imagination.

In fact, there have been many times he has sold his work for a shred of its market value — and, in one notable case, shredded work of high market value. Banksy may not approve of his own commercial value, but as new releases are so rare, those who want to own one of his pieces will usually have no choice but to turn to the secondary market.