Banksy

{{Short description|Graffiti artist, political activist and painter}} {{For|the payment processor|Banksys}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Use British English|date=July 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox artist | name = Banksy | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = United Kingdom | death_date = | death_place = | movement = Street art | signature = Banksy signature-removebg-preview.png | signature_type = Tag | signature_size = | signature_alt = | awards = | website = {{plist| *{{URL|banksy.co.uk}} *{{URL|pestcontroloffice.com}} }} | notable_works = List of works by Banksy | style = Graffiti }} [[File:Banksy-ps2.jpg|thumb|Banksy graffiti on the bottom of Park Street in Bristol]] '''Banksy''' is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director. He has never publicly confirmed his identity. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stencilling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides of the World’s Most Infamous Street Artist |url=http://weburbanist.com/2007/07/19/banksy-paradox-unofficial-guide-to-the-worlds-most-infamous-urban-guerilla-street-artist/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402080538/http://weburbanist.com/2007/07/19/banksy-paradox-unofficial-guide-to-the-worlds-most-infamous-urban-guerilla-street-artist/ |archive-date=2011-04-02 |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=weburbanist.com |language=en-US|publisher=WebUrbanist}}</ref> His work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.<ref name="tel_banksy">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html |title=Banksy: off the wall |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=28 March 2008 |access-date=24 June 2009 |last=Baker |first=Lindsay |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413030104/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html | archive-date=13 April 2009 }}</ref>

Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. He no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but his public "installations" are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall on which they were painted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290|title=Banksy fans fail to bite at street art auction|work=meeja.com.au|date=30 September 2008|access-date=30 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016145044/http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=290|archive-date=16 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Much of his work can be classified as temporary art.<ref name="Expose">{{cite web |title=Banksy: Temporary by Design |url=https://exepose.com/2018/11/30/banksy-temporary-by-design/ |website=Expose |date=30 November 2018 |access-date=20 January 2022 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120033546/https://exepose.com/2018/11/30/banksy-temporary-by-design/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A small number of his works are officially, non-publicly, sold through an agency he created called Pest Control.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Loney |first=Abrams |title=How Does Banksy Make Money? (Or, A Quick Lesson in Art Market Economics) |url=https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/close_look/how-does-banksy-make-money-or-a-lesson-in-art-market-economics-55352 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024152508/https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/close_look/how-does-banksy-make-money-or-a-lesson-in-art-market-economics-55352 |archive-date=2018-10-24 |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=Artspace |language=en}}</ref> Banksy directed and starred in the documentary film ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'', which made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8471145.stm |title=Banksy film to debut at Sundance |work=BBC News |date=21 January 2010 |access-date=12 April 2010 |author=<!-- No byline --> |archive-date=31 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331215252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8471145.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In January 2011, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9373000/9373020.stm|title=Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop up for Oscar award |date=25 January 2011 |work=BBC Bristol |access-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421060515/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9373000/9373020.stm |archive-date=21 April 2017}}</ref>

== Career == {{See also|List of works by Banksy}}

=== Early career (1990–2001) === Banksy started as a freehand graffiti artist in 1990–1994<ref name="WrightHome32">{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Steve |first2=Richard |last2=Jones |first3=Trevor |last3=Wyatt |title=Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home |publisher=Tangent Books |location=Bath |date=28 November 2007 |page=32 |isbn=978-1-906477-00-4}}</ref> as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with two other artists known as Kato and Tes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graffiti.org/dj/n-igma3/uk1.html |title=N-Igma fanzine showing examples of DBZ Graffiti tagged by Banksy, Kato and Tes |date=April 1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403065449/http://www.graffiti.org/dj/n-igma3/uk1.html |archive-date=3 April 2007 }}</ref> He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger Bristol underground scene with Nick Walker, Inkie, and 3D.<ref name="bbc street art show comes to Bristol">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_7879000/7879064.stm |title=Street art show comes to Bristol |work=BBC News |date=9 February 2009 |access-date=31 August 2011 |quote=Street art [...] erupted in the UK in the early 1980s [...] active on the Bristol scene at that time included Banksy, Nick Walker, Inkie and Robert del Naja, or '3D', of Massive Attack. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928081518/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_7879000/7879064.stm |archive-date=28 September 2013 }}</ref><ref name="sky banksy art auctions">{{cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/1304043 |title=Banksy Hits Out at Street Art Auctions |publisher=Sky News |date=6 February 2008 |access-date=31 August 2011 |author=Reid, Julia |location=London |quote=Along with Banksy, Bristol's graffiti heritage includes 3D, who went on to form Massive Attack, Inkie, and one of the original stencil artists Nick Walker. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117022803/http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/1304043 |archive-date=17 November 2011 }}</ref> During this time he met Bristol photographer Steve Lazarides, who began selling Banksy's work, later becoming his agent.<ref name="FT urban renewal">{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2e9b2d04-2a62-11e0-804a-00144feab49a |title=Urban Renewal: Steve Lazarides continues to expand his street art empire |work=Financial Times |date=28 January 2011 |access-date=4 November 2013 |author=Child, Andrew |location=London |quote=He had discovered Banksy on a chance photo shoot in Bristol in 2001 while working as picture editor of Sleaze Nation magazine, and brought him to public attention along with a roster of other urban artists... Lazarides and Banksy parted company in 2009, a mysterious split about which both parties have remained tight-lipped. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328214441/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2e9b2d04-2a62-11e0-804a-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=28 March 2014 }}</ref> By 2000, he had turned to the art of stencilling after realising how much less time it took to complete a work. He claims he changed to stencilling while hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number<ref name="wallandpiece">{{cite book |last=Banksy |title=Wall and Piece |publisher=Random House |url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |access-date=19 September 2006 |year=2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928183419/http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/banksy/ |archive-date=28 September 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London.<ref name="wallandpiece" /> He was the goalkeeper for the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls football team in the 1990s, and toured with the club to Mexico in 2001.<ref name="bbc onyangaomara 2012">{{cite news|last=Onyanga-Omara |first=Jane |title=Banksy in goal: The story of the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-19410566 |access-date=14 September 2012 |newspaper=BBC News |date=14 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916215025/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-19410566 |archive-date=16 September 2012 }}</ref> Banksy's first known large wall mural was ''The Mild Mild West'' painted in 1997 to cover advertising of a former solicitors' office on Stokes Croft in Bristol. It depicts a teddy bear lobbing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/gallery/photo/mild-mild-west-banksy |title=Banksy's mild mild west piece, Stokes Croft, Bristol |publisher=Bristol-street-art.co.uk |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=30 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416183319/http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/gallery/photo/mild-mild-west-banksy |archive-date=16 April 2014 }}</ref>

Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message was often anti-war, anti-capitalist, or anti-establishment. Subjects include rats, apes, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.<ref>{{cite web | title=Overview of Banksy Murals | date=19 June 2021 | url=https://banksyexplained.com/banksy-murals-overview/ | access-date=29 September 2025 | archive-date=29 June 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250629155754/https://banksyexplained.com/banksy-murals-overview/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Exhibitions (2002–2003)===

On 19 July 2002, Banksy's first Los Angeles exhibition debuted at 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, a tiny Silver Lake venue owned by Frank Sosa, and was on view until 18 August.<ref name="Banksy Unofficial-2017">{{Cite web|url=https://banksyunofficial.com/2017/04/16/existencilism-los-angeles-june-19-2002/|title=Existencilism. Los Angeles, July 2002.|date=16 April 2017|website=Banksy Unofficial|language=en|access-date=26 February 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226150316/https://banksyunofficial.com/2017/04/16/existencilism-los-angeles-june-19-2002/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Phillips">{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillips.com/detail/banksy/EX010319/15|title=Banksy – Smiley Copper H|website=Phillips|language=en|access-date=26 February 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226150839/https://www.phillips.com/detail/banksy/EX010319/15|url-status=live}}</ref> The exhibition, entitled ''Existencilism'', ''"an Exhibition of Art, Lies and Deviousness"'' was curated by 33{{fraction|1|3}} Gallery, Malathion LA's Chris Vargas, Funk Lazy Promotions' Grace Jehan, and B+.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm |title=Banksy Existencilism Book |work=Art of the State |access-date=26 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204070348/http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_Existencilism_book.htm |archive-date=4 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The flyer of the exhibition indicates an opening reception was followed by a performance by Money Mark with DJ's Jun, AL Jackson, Rhettmatic, J-Roc, and Coleman.<ref name="Banksy Unofficial-2017" /> Some of the paintings exhibited included ''Smiley Copper H'' (2002), ''Leopard and Barcode'' (2002), ''Bomb Hugger'' (2002), and ''Love Is in the Air (Banksy)'' (2002).<ref name="Phillips" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artdaily.cc/news/54039/First-time-at-auction-for-Banksy-s-2002-art-work--Leopard-and-Barcode--at-Bonhams-Urban-art-sale|title=First time at auction for Banksy's 2002 art work, Leopard and Barcode, at Bonhams Urban art sale|website=artdaily.cc|access-date=26 February 2020|archive-date=19 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519052958/https://artdaily.cc/news/54039/First-time-at-auction-for-Banksy-s-2002-art-work--Leopard-and-Barcode--at-Bonhams-Urban-art-sale|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, at an exhibition called ''Turf War'', held in a London warehouse, Banksy painted on animals. At the time he gave one of his very few interviews, to the BBC's Nigel Wrench.<ref>{{cite web|title=Banksy's Bristol |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/05/27/banksy_interviews_feature.shtml |website=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |access-date=11 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413065330/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/05/27/banksy_interviews_feature.shtml |archive-date=13 April 2015 }}</ref> Although the RSPCA declared the conditions suitable, an animal rights activist chained herself to the railings in protest.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3077217.stm |title=Animals sprayed by graffiti artist |work=BBC News |date=18 July 2003 |access-date=19 September 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061005173441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3077217.stm| archive-date= 5 October 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> An example of his subverted paintings is Monet's ''Water Lily Pond'', adapted to include urban detritus such as litter and a shopping trolley floating in its reflective waters; another is Edward Hopper's ''Nighthawks'', redrawn to show that the characters are looking at a British football hooligan, dressed only in his Union Jack underwear, who has just thrown an object through the glass window of the café. These oil paintings were shown at a twelve-day exhibition in Westbourne Grove, London in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/banksy_show_tonight_in_london.html |title=Banksy Show Tonight in London |date=13 October 2005 |access-date=19 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111130101/http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/10/banksy_show_tonight_in_london.html |archive-date=11 November 2006 }}</ref>

Banksy, along with Shepard Fairey, Dmote, and others, created work at a warehouse exhibition in Alexandria, Sydney, for Semi-Permanent in 2003. Approximately 1,500 people attended.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}}

=== £10 notes to ''Barely Legal'' (2004–2006) === In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mix|first=Elizabeth|year=2011|title=Bansky|journal=Grove Art Online|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T2093940}}</ref> replacing the picture of the Queen's head with Princess Diana's head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England". Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at Notting Hill Carnival that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops. These notes were also given with invitations to a Santa's Ghetto exhibition by Pictures on Walls. The individual notes have since been selling on eBay. A wad of the notes was also thrown over a fence and into the crowd near the ''NME'' signing tent at the Reading Festival. A limited run of 50 signed posters containing ten uncut notes was also produced and sold by Pictures on Walls for £100 each to commemorate the death of Princess Diana. One of these sold in October 2007 at Bonhams auction house in London for £24,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy print donated to Bristol arts venue, The Cube |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-24701608 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=20 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925224121/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-24701608 |archive-date=25 September 2015 }}</ref>

The reproduction of images of the banknotes classifies as a criminal offence under s.18 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981. In 2016, the American Numismatic Society received an email from a Reproductions Officer at the Bank of England, which brought attention to the illegality of publishing photos of the banknotes on their website without prior permission.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reinhard|first=Andrew|year=2016|title=ANS Acquires Authentic Banksy £10 Diana Note|url=http://numismatics.org/pocketchange/banksy/|access-date=10 May 2021|website=American Numismatic Society Blog|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511211945/http://numismatics.org/pocketchange/banksy/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Bank of England holds the copyright over all its banknotes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, s.18|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/45/section/18|access-date=10 May 2021|website=legislation.gov.uk|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510171607/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/45/section/18|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in 2004, Banksy created a limited edition screenprint titled ''Napalm (Can't Beat That Feeling)''. In the print, Banksy appropriated the image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a Vietnamese girl who appeared in the iconic 1972 photograph ''The Terror of War'' by Nick Ut. ''Napalm'' shows the image of Kim Phuc as seen in the original photo, but no longer within the tragic war setting. Instead, he situates the young girl against an empty background, still screaming, but now accompanied by Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse. The two characters hold her hands as they cheerfully gesture to an invisible audience, seemingly oblivious to the terrified girl. The image of Kim Phuc is flat, grainy and monochromatic; in most of the prints, Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse are yellow. In a few limited prints, the corporate characters wear pink or orange. Banksy produced 150 signed and 500 unsigned copies of ''Napalm''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=10 Things To Know About Banksy's Napalm|url=https://www.myartbroker.com/artist/banksy/10-things-to-know-about-banksys-napalm/|access-date=2021-11-23|website=MyArtBroker|language=en-GB|archive-date=23 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123230920/https://www.myartbroker.com/artist/banksy/10-things-to-know-about-banksys-napalm/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tichy|first=Anna|year=2021|title=Banksy: Artist, Prankster, or Both?|journal=New York Law School Law Review|volume=65 |pages=81–103|issue=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Friedman|first=Jacob|title=Napalm (Can't Beat That Feeling)|url=https://hexagongallery.com/catalog/artist/banksy/napalm-cant-beat-that-feeling/|url-status=usurped|access-date=2021-11-23|website=Hexagon Gallery|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419224456/https://hexagongallery.com/catalog/artist/banksy/napalm-cant-beat-that-feeling/ |archive-date=19 April 2019 }}</ref> In August 2005, Banksy, on a trip to the Palestinian territories, created nine images on the Israeli West Bank wall.<ref name="JonesIsrael">{{cite news|first=Sam |last=Jones |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/05/israel.artsnews |title=Spray can prankster tackles Israel's security barrier |date=5 August 2005 |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=19 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004133921/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0%2C11711%2C1543171%2C00.html |archive-date=4 October 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{quote box | quote = There are crimes that become innocent and even glorious through their splendour, number and excess. | source = Banksy<ref name="HPBanksy">[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/banksy-graffiti-book_n_1827644.html Banksy Graffiti: A Book About The Thinking Street Artist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131118130547/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/banksy-graffiti-book_n_1827644.html |date=18 November 2013 }} by ''The Huffington Post'', 30 August 2012</ref> | align = right | width = 30em | salign = right | fontsize = 100 }}

Banksy held an exhibition called ''Barely Legal'', billed as a "three-day vandalised warehouse extravaganza" in Los Angeles, on the weekend of 16 September 2006. The exhibition featured a live "elephant in a room", painted in a pink and gold floral wallpaper pattern, which, according to leaflets handed out at the exhibition, was intended to draw attention to the issue of world poverty. Although the Animal Services Department had issued a permit for the elephant, after complaints from animal rights activists, the elephant appeared unpainted on the final day. Its owners rejected claims of mistreatment and said that the elephant had done "many, many movies. She's used to makeup."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/18/arts.artsnews |title=Banksy's painted elephant is illegal, say officials |author=Oliver, Mark |date=18 September 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=20 April 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019230158/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/18/arts.artsnews |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref> Banksy also made artwork displaying Queen Victoria as a lesbian and satirical pieces that incorporated art made by Andy Warhol and Leonardo da Vinci.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm |title='Guerrilla artist' Banksy hits LA |work=BBC News |date=14 September 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 |first=Peter |last=Bowes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312143923/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref>

Peter Gibson, a spokesman for Keep Britain Tidy, asserts that Banksy's work is simple vandalism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html |title=Banksy biography |work=Brian Sewell Art Directory (briansewell.com) |date=4 August 2005 |access-date=26 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215230943/http://briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html |archive-date=15 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Another official for the same organisation stated: "We are concerned that Banksy's street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere" />

=== Banksy effect (2006–2007) ===

After Christina Aguilera bought an original of Queen Victoria as a lesbian and two prints for £25,000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece|title=Aguilera invests £25,000 in Banksy |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=6 April 2006 |access-date=20 October 2006 | first=Matthew | last=Beard| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060907055717/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article356015.ece| archive-date= 7 September 2006 | url-status=dead}}</ref> on 19 October 2006, a set of Kate Moss paintings sold in Sotheby's London for £50,400, setting an auction record for Banksy's work. The six silk-screen prints, featuring the model painted in the style of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe pictures, sold for five times their estimated price. Their stencil of a green ''Mona Lisa'' with real paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at the same auction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069384.stm |title=Banksy works set auction record |work=BBC News |date=20 October 2006 |access-date=20 October 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209131916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069384.stm |archive-date=9 February 2007 }}</ref> In December, journalist Max Foster coined the phrase, "the Banksy effect", to illustrate how interest in other street artists was growing on the back of Banksy's success.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/04/ywt.01.html |title=Your World Today (Transcript) |publisher=CNN |date=4 December 2006 |access-date=26 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710034649/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/04/ywt.01.html |archive-date=10 July 2009 }} "Banksy Effect" mentioned near end.</ref>

On 21 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in London auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for ''Bombing Middle England''. Two of his other graffiti works, ''Girl with Balloon'' and ''Bomb Hugger'', sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0710535520070207 |title=British graffiti artist joins elite in record sale |work=Reuters |date=7 February 2007 |access-date=8 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109224649/http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0710535520070207 |archive-date=9 January 2009 }}</ref> The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices: ''Ballerina with Action Man Parts'' reached £96,000; ''Glory'' sold for £72,000; ''Untitled (2004)'' sold for £33,600; all significantly above price estimates.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html |title=Sotheby's makes a killing from Banksy's guerrilla artworks |first=Geneviève |last=Roberts |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=19 January 2007 |access-date=26 January 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090221123459/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/sothebys-makes-a-killing-from-banksys-guerrilla-artworks-432756.html| archive-date= 21 February 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit."<ref name="NYBanksyWasHere">{{cite magazine|last=Collins |first=Lauren |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all |title=Banksy Was Here: The invisible man of graffiti art |magazine=The New Yorker |date=14 May 2007 |access-date=26 January 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081230190402/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all| archive-date= 30 December 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2007, the owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in Bristol decided to sell the house through Red Propeller art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural that comes with a house attached.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/6351467.stm |title=Free house as part of mural sale |work=BBC News |date=12 February 2007 |access-date=12 February 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070213055359/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6351467.stm| archive-date= 13 February 2007 | url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2007, Transport for London painted over Banksy's image of a scene from Quentin Tarantino's film ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta clutching bananas instead of guns. Although the image was very popular, Transport for London claimed that the graffiti created "a general atmosphere of neglect and social decay which in turn encourages crime" and their staff are "professional cleaners not professional art critics".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6575345.stm |title=Iconic Banksy image painted over |work=BBC News |date=20 April 2007 |access-date=20 April 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070525234557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6575345.stm| archive-date= 25 May 2007 | url-status=live}}</ref> Banksy painted the same site again and, initially, the actors were portrayed as holding real guns instead of bananas, but they were adorned with banana costumes. Sometime later, Banksy made a tribute artwork over this second ''Pulp Fiction'' work. The tribute was for 19-year-old British graffiti artist Ozone who, along with fellow artist Wants, was hit by an underground train in Barking, east London on 12 January 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jan/20/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title=Blood on the tracks |first=Esther |last=Addley |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 January 2007 |access-date=26 January 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021133537/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jan/20/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |archive-date=21 October 2013 }}</ref> Banksy depicted an angel wearing a bullet-proof vest holding a skull. He also wrote a note on his website saying: {{blockquote|The last time I hit this spot I painted a crap picture of two men in banana costumes waving handguns. A few weeks later a writer called Ozone completely dogged it and then wrote "If it's better next time I'll leave it" in the bottom corner. When we lost Ozone we lost a fearless graffiti writer and as it turns out a pretty perceptive art critic. Ozone—rest in peace.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bull|first=Martin|title=Banksy Locations & Tours: A collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London, England|year=2011|publisher=PM Press|isbn=978-1-60486-320-8}}</ref>}}

On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work ''Space Girl and Bird'' fetching £288,000 (€{{To EUR|288000|GBR|year=2007|r=-3}} US$576,000) around 20 times the estimate at Bonhams of London.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425 |title=Reuters UK: Elusive artist Banksy sets record price |work=Reuters.com |date=25 April 2007 |access-date=26 January 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081230165901/http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425| archive-date= 30 December 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref> On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's Greatest living Briton. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award and continued with his anonymous status. On 4 June 2007, it was reported that Banksy's ''The Drinker'' had been stolen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy Statue Stolen |url=http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html |work=Stranger |access-date=4 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608161006/http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/banksy-statue-stolen.html |archive-date=8 June 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/apr/02/art |title=But is it kidnap? |first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=2 April 2004 |access-date=15 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625121937/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0%2C%2C1184233%2C00.html |archive-date=25 June 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2007, most of his works offered for sale at Bonhams auction house in London sold for more than twice their reserve price.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0,,30100-1289548,00.html ''Guerilla Artist,''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026021115/http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/0%2C%2C30100-1289548%2C00.html |date=26 October 2007 }} Sky News, 24 October 2007</ref>

Banksy has published a "manifesto" on his website.<ref name=manifesto>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119032828/http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html|archive-date=19 January 2005|title=Camp}}</ref> The text of the manifesto is credited as the diary entry of British Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Willett Gonin, DSO, which is exhibited in the Imperial War Museum. It describes how a shipment of lipstick to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp immediately after its liberation at the end of World War II helped the internees regain their humanity. However, as of 18 January 2008, Banksy's Manifesto has been replaced with Graffiti Heroes No. 03, which describes Peter Chappell's graffiti quest of the 1970s that worked to free George Davis from imprisonment.<ref name=manifesto /> By 12 August 2009 he was relying on Emo Philips' "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn't work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness." A small number of Banksy's works can be seen in the movie ''Children of Men'', including a stencilled image of two policemen kissing and another stencil of a child looking down a shop.<ref>{{cite web|title=Banksy |url=http://www.contactmusic.com/banksy |publisher=Contact Music |access-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222013559/http://www.contactmusic.com/banksy |archive-date=22 December 2015 }}</ref>

Banksy, who "is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his work second hand (including Lazarides Ltd, Andipa Gallery, Bank Robber, Dreweatts, etc.)",<ref>{{cite web| title= A message from Banksy's lawyer| url= http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html| access-date= 28 October 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101026144455/http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html| archive-date= 26 October 2010| url-status=dead| df= dmy-all}}</ref> claims that the exhibition at Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York City (his first major exhibition in that city) is unauthorised. The exhibition featured 62 of their paintings and prints.<ref>{{cite web|title=Banksy Pans His First New York Show |work=Artinfo |publisher=Louise Blouin Media |date=7 December 2007 |url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26312/banksy-pans-his-first-new-york-show/ |access-date=16 April 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916225635/http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/26312/banksy-pans-his-first-new-york-show/ |archive-date=16 September 2008 }}</ref>

Beginning in the early 2020s, a series of unauthorised commercial venues marketed as the "Banksy Museum" opened in Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Barcelona and Madrid, displaying life-sized replicas of his works rather than originals. Banksy was not involved with the venture, and his authentication body Pest Control has publicly denounced parties that profit from his work. Founder Hazis Vardar has acknowledged that Banksy never agreed to the reproductions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gomez Sarmiento |first=Isabella |title=A Banksy Museum opens in NYC, but without Banksy's blessings |publisher=NPR |date=28 May 2024 |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/05/28/1253005720/banksy-museum-nyc |access-date=5 May 2026}}</ref>

=== 2008 === In March, Nathan Wellard and Maev Neal, a couple from Norfolk, UK, made headlines in Britain when they decided to sell their mobile home that contains a {{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=|order=flip|0}} mural, entitled ''Silent Majority'', done by Banksy a decade prior to his rise to fame.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trailer a Banksy treasure|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2008/06/03/arts_banksy_20080603_feature.shtml|access-date=17 December 2015|publisher=BBC|date=6 March 2008|archive-date=25 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225065958/http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2008/06/03/arts_banksy_20080603_feature.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Nathan Wellard, Banksy had asked the couple if he could use the side of their home as a "large canvas", to which they agreed. In return for the "canvas", the Bristol stencil artist gave them two free tickets to the Glastonbury Festival. The mobile home purchased by the couple 11 years earlier for £1,000, was priced at £500,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mobile 'art house' for sale |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7433882.stm |work=BBC News |date=3 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728111628/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7433882.stm |archive-date=28 July 2013 }}</ref>

Also in March 2008, a stencilled graffiti work appeared on Thames Water tower in the middle of the Holland Park roundabout, and it was widely attributed to Banksy. It was of a child painting the tag "Take this—Society!" in bright orange. London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham spokesman, Councillor Greg Smith branded the art as vandalism, and ordered its immediate removal, which was carried out by H&F council workmen within three days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html |title=Banksy must have an Oyster card. He's gone west! |work=The London Paper |date=11 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314012848/http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/03/banksy-must-hav.html |archive-date=14 March 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In late August 2008, marking the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the associated levee failure disaster, Banksy produced a series of works in New Orleans, Louisiana, mostly on buildings derelict since the disaster.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Banksy-Paints-Murals-In-New-Orleans-To-Mark-Hurricane-Katrina-Anniversary/Media-Gallery/200808415088995?lpos=World+News_0&lid=GALLERY_15088995_Banksy+Paints+Murals+In+New+Orleans+To+Mark+Hurricane+Katrina+Anniversary |title=Banksy Paints Murals in New Orleans To Mark Hurricane Katrina Anniversary; Gallery 'Banksy Art in Big Easy' |publisher=Sky News |date=28 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206033907/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Banksy-Paints-Murals-In-New-Orleans-To-Mark-Hurricane-Katrina-Anniversary/Media-Gallery/200808415088995?lpos=World+News_0&lid=GALLERY_15088995_Banksy+Paints+Murals+In+New+Orleans+To+Mark+Hurricane+Katrina+Anniversary |archive-date=6 December 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:No Loitering Banksy.jpg|thumb|Work on building in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, August 2008]]

A stencil painting attributed to Banksy appeared at a vacant petrol station in the Ensley neighbourhood of Birmingham, Alabama on 29 August as Hurricane Gustav approached the New Orleans area. The painting, depicting a hooded member of the Ku Klux Klan hanging from a noose, was quickly covered with black spray paint and later removed altogether.<ref name=WoosterCollective>[http://www.woostercollective.com/post/banksys-road-trip-continues-takes-on-the-kkk-in-birmingham-alabama Banksy's Road Trip Continues: Takes On The KKK In Birmingham, Alabama] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021203209/http://www.woostercollective.com/post/banksys-road-trip-continues-takes-on-the-kkk-in-birmingham-alabama |date=21 October 2013 }}, Marc Schiller, ''Wooster Collective''</ref> His first official exhibition in New York City, ''The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill'', opened 5 October 2008. The animatronic pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby Chicken McNuggets as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror.<ref name=NYOct2008>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/design/09publ.html |title=Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip |work=The New York Times |first=Melena |last=Ryzik |date=9 October 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609070832/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/design/09publ.html |archive-date=9 June 2016 }}</ref>

The Westminster City Council stated in October 2008 that the work ''One Nation Under CCTV'', painted in April 2008 would be painted over as it was graffiti. The council said it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy "has no more right to paint graffiti than a child". Robert Davis, the chairman of the council planning committee told ''The Times'' newspaper: "If we condone this then we might as well say that any kid with a spray can is producing art."<ref name=SMHOct2008>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/banksy-art-is-graffiti-rules-council/2008/10/24/1224351528852.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Banksy art is graffiti, rules town hall |date=24 October 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331152752/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/banksy-art-is-graffiti-rules-council/2008/10/24/1224351528852.html |archive-date=31 March 2013 }}</ref> The work was painted over in April 2009. In December 2008, ''The Little Diver'', a Banksy image of a diver in a duffle coat in Melbourne, Australia, was destroyed. The image had been protected by a sheet of clear perspex; however, silver paint was poured behind the protective sheet and later tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere". The image was almost completely obliterated.<ref name=TheAgeDec2008>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-melbourne-loses-its-treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html |work=The Age |location=Australia |title=The painter painted: Melbourne loses its treasured Banksy |date=14 December 2008 |first=Janae |last=Houghton |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324071147/http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-melbourne-loses-its-treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html |archive-date=24 March 2011 }}</ref>

Banksy has also been long criticised for copying the work of Blek le Rat, who created the life-sized stencil technique in early 1980s Paris and used it to express a similar combination of political commentary and humorous imagery. Blek has praised Banksy for his contribution to urban art,<ref name=Coan>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/blek-le-rat-this-is-not-a-banksy-811130.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=Blek le Rat: This is not a Banksy |date=19 April 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808032756/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/blek-le-rat-this-is-not-a-banksy-811130.html |archive-date=8 August 2011 }}</ref> but said in an interview for the documentary ''Graffiti Wars'' that some of Banksy's more derivative work makes him "angry", saying that "It's difficult to find a technique and style in art so when you have a style and you see someone else is taking it and reproducing it, you don't like that."<ref>{{cite news|author=Wells, Jeff|date=15 August 2011|title=Guerrilla artists at war over style accusations|newspaper=Western Daily Press|page=3}}</ref>

==== The Cans Festival (2008) ==== In London, over the weekend 3–5 May 2008, Banksy hosted an exhibition called ''The Cans Festival''. It was situated on Leake Street, a road tunnel formerly used by Eurostar underneath London Waterloo station. Graffiti artists with stencils were invited to join in and paint their own artwork, as long as it did not cover anyone else's.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7377622.stm |title=Tunnel becomes Banksy art exhibit |date=2 May 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=5 January 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617194911/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7377622.stm |archive-date=17 June 2009 }}</ref> Banksy invited artists from around the world to exhibit their works.<ref>{{cite news | title = Banksy Hosts The Cans Festival | url = http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php | publisher = Cool Hunting | date = 6 May 2008 | access-date = 17 May 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511184925/http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/05/banksy-cans-festival.php | archive-date = 11 May 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== 2009 === In May 2009, Banksy parted company with agent Steve Lazarides and announced that Pest Control,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pestcontroloffice.com/faq.asp|title=What is Pest Control? |publisher=Pest Control Office |access-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131223445/http://pestcontroloffice.com/whatispco.html |archive-date=31 January 2009 }}</ref> the handling service that acts on his behalf, would be the only point of sale for new works.

On 13 June 2009, the Banksy vs Bristol Museum show opened at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, featuring more than 100 works of art, including animatronics and installations; it is his largest exhibition yet, featuring 78 new works.<ref> {{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy's homecoming reviewed |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=12 June 2009 |access-date=14 June 2009 |last=Cafe |first=Rebecca | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090615142841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm| archive-date= 15 June 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum|title=Take a stuffy old institution. Remix. Add wit. It's Banksy v the museum|last=Sawyer|first=Miranda|date=13 June 2009|work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=13 June 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090615161052/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jun/13/banksy-bristol-city-museum| archive-date= 15 June 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> Reaction to the show was positive, with over 8,500 visitors to the show on the first weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html |title=Thousands flock to Banksy show in Bristol|date=15 June 2009 |work=Bristol Evening Post |publisher=Bristol News and Media |access-date=15 June 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090618140338/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Thousands-flock-Banksy-Bristol/article-1075613-detail/article.html| archive-date= 18 June 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> Over the course of the twelve weeks, the exhibition was visited over 300,000 times.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |title=Banksy art show draws in 300,000 |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |date=31 August 2009 |access-date=31 August 2009 |first=Rebecca |last=Cafe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615142841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8097000/8097022.stm |archive-date=15 June 2009 }}</ref>

In September 2009, a Banksy work parodying the Royal Family was partially destroyed by Hackney Council after they served an enforcement notice for graffiti removal to the former address of the property owner. The mural had been commissioned for the 2003 Blur single "Crazy Beat" and the property owner, who had allowed it to be painted, was reported to have been in tears when she saw it was being painted over.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8238896.stm |title=Blur Banksy is ruined by mistake |work=BBC News |date=5 September 2009 |access-date=5 September 2009 |archive-date=6 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106023514/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8238896.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2009, Banksy marked the end of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference by painting four murals on global warming. One included the phrase, "I don't believe in global warming", with the words being submerged in water.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8425397.stm Banksy art tackles global warming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822180620/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8425397.stm |date=22 August 2017 }} . ''BBC News''. 21 December 2009.</ref> A feud and graffiti war between Banksy and King Robbo broke out when Banksy allegedly painted over one of Robbo's tags. The feud has led to many of Banksy's works being altered by graffiti writers.<ref name="indy">{{cite web |url=http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/my-graffiti-war-with-banksy-by-king-robbo/ |title=My Graffiti War with Banksy By King Robbo |author=Fuertes-Knight, Jo |work=Sabotage Times |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819215549/http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/my-graffiti-war-with-banksy-by-king-robbo/ |archive-date=19 August 2011 |access-date=15 August 2011 }}</ref>

=== ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' and United States (2010) === The world premiere of the film ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' took place at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on 24 January. He created 10 street artworks around Park City and Salt Lake City to tie in with the screening.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14232591 |title=Famous 'tagger' Banksy strikes in Utah |first=Sean P. |last=Means| work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=21 January 2010 |access-date=21 January 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100124082724/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14232591| archive-date= 24 January 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> In February, The Whitehouse public house in Liverpool, England, was sold for £114,000 at auction. The side of the building has an image of a giant rat by Banksy.<ref name="liverpooldailypost">{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/02/18/liverpool-banksy-rat-pub-building-sold-for-114-000-at-auction-100252-25864205/ |title=Liverpool Banksy rat pub building sold for £114,000 at auction |date=18 February 2010 |work=The Liverpool Daily Post |author=Sharpe, Laura |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909175312/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/02/18/liverpool-banksy-rat-pub-building-sold-for-114-000-at-auction-100252-25864205/ |archive-date=9 September 2010 }}</ref>

In March 2010, a modified version of the work ''Forgive Us Our Trespassing''–a kneeling boy with a spray-painted halo–was displayed at London Bridge Station on a poster. This version of the work did not possess the halo due to its stylistic nature and the prevalence of graffiti in the underground.<ref name="BBCBanksy">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8573323.stm |title=London Underground Banksy work regains its halo |work=BBC News |date=17 March 2010 |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418032701/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8573323.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> After a few days the halo was repainted by a graffitist, so Transport for London disposed of the poster.<ref name="BBCBanksy"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/underground-mystery-as-banksy-work-regains-its-halo-6751715.html |title=Underground mystery as Banksy work regains its halo|work=London Evening Standard|date=17 March 2010|access-date=25 December 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529020034/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23816233-underground-mystery-as-banksy-work-regains-its-halo.do |archive-date=29 May 2010}}</ref>

{{quote box | quote = Banksy paints over the line between aesthetics and language, then stealthily repaints it in the unlikeliest of places. His works, whether he stencils them on the streets, sells them in exhibitions or hangs them in museums on the sly, are filled with wit and metaphors that transcend language barriers. | source = Shepard Fairey in ''Time'' magazine on Banksy's entry in the Time 100 list, April 2010<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fairy |first1=Shephard |title=Time 100: Banksy |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1984945,00.html |magazine=Time |issue=20 May 2015 |date=29 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518011845/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0%2C28804%2C1984685_1984940_1984945%2C00.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref> | align = left | width = 25em | salign = right | fontsize = 100 }}

In April, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in San Francisco, five of his works appeared in various parts of the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| title=Street Artist Banksy Marks the Mission |access-date=27 April 2010|work=The San Francisco Chronicle | date=23 April 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100428215041/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063| archive-date= 28 April 2010 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Banksy reportedly paid a San Francisco Chinatown building owner $50 (€{{To EUR|50|USA|year=2010|round=yes}}) for the use of their wall for one of his stencils.<ref>[http://sfluxe.com/2010/04/24/banksy-in-san-francisco/ Banksy in San Francisco | San Francisco Luxury Living] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427043450/http://sfluxe.com/2010/04/24/banksy-in-san-francisco |date=27 April 2010 }}. Sfluxe.com (24 April 2010). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref>

In May 2010, seven new Banksy works of art appeared in Toronto.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| title=Banksy comes to Toronto |access-date=9 May 2010|work=Torontoist| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100512044227/http://torontoist.com/2010/05/banksy_comes_to_toronto.php| archive-date= 12 May 2010| url-status=live| date=9 May 2010 }}</ref> Later in May, to coincide with the premiere of ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' in Royal Oak, Banksy visited the Detroit area and left his mark in several places in Detroit and Warren.<ref name="Wright-2010">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2010/05/mt-exclusive-banksy-leaves-a-rat-in-warren-and-a-diamond-in-detroit |title=Banksy Leaves a Rat in Warren and a Diamond in Detroit |author=Wright, Travis R |date=10 May 2010 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=Metro Times blogs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119015819/http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2010/05/mt-exclusive-banksy-leaves-a-rat-in-warren-and-a-diamond-in-detroit |archive-date=19 January 2011 }}</ref> Shortly after, his work depicting a little boy holding a can of red paint next to the words "I remember when all this was trees" was excavated by the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios. The gallery claimed that they did not intend to sell the work, but planned to preserve it and display it at their Detroit gallery. It was later sold in 2015 for US$137,500 (€{{To EUR|137500|USA|year=2015|r=-3}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/100514077/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-leaves-mark-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm |title=Graffiti artist Banksy leaves mark on Detroit and ignites firestorm |first=Mark |last=Stryker |work=Detroit Free Press |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518065058/http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/100514077/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-leaves-mark-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm |archive-date=18 May 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Detroit mural created by Banksy sells for $137,500 | date=October 1, 2015 | url=https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/detroit-mural-created-by-banksy-sells-for-137500 | work=fox2detroit.com | archive-date=20 January 2025 | access-date=4 January 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120105325/https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/detroit-mural-created-by-banksy-sells-for-137500 | url-status=live }}</ref> There was also an attempted removal of one of the Warren works known as ''Diamond Girl''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.detroitmoxie.com/home/2010/5/12/street-artist-banksy-tags-detroit.html |date=12 May 2010 |work=Detroit Moxie |title=Street Artist Banksy Tags Detroit |first=Becks |last=Davis |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516031000/http://www.detroitmoxie.com/home/2010/5/12/street-artist-banksy-tags-detroit.html |archive-date=16 May 2010 }}</ref> While in the United States, Banksy also completed a painting in Chinatown, Boston, known as ''Follow Your Dreams''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy makes his mark across America |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/banksy-makes-his-mark-across-america-1993251.html |work=The Independent |date=7 June 2010 |access-date=21 April 2020 |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613131637/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/banksy-makes-his-mark-across-america-1993251.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In late January 2011, ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110711102803/http://oscar.go.com/nominations/category/documentary-feature/synopsis/exit-through-the-gift-shop/687163 Banksy nominated for Oscar]. Oscar.go.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Banksy released a statement about the nomination, stating, "This is a big surprise... I don't agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I'm prepared to make an exception for the ones I'm nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me."<ref>[https://www.nme.com/movies/news/banksy-welcomes-oscar-nomination-for-exit-through-the-gift-shop/203819 Banksy statement to Oscar nomination] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301013901/http://www.nme.com/movies/news/banksy-welcomes-oscar-nomination-for-exit-through-the-gift-shop/203819 |date=1 March 2011 }}. Nme.com (27 January 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> Leading up to the Oscars, Banksy blanketed Los Angeles with street art. Many people speculated if Banksy would show up at the Oscars in disguise and make a surprise appearance if he won the Oscar. ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' did not win the award, which went to ''Inside Job''. In early March 2011, Banksy responded to the Oscars with an artwork in Weston-super-Mare, of a little girl holding the Oscar and pouting. Many people think that it is about 15-month-old Lara, who dropped and damaged her father's (''The King's Speech'' co-producer Simon Egan) Oscar statue.<ref>[http://swns.com/banksy-pays-tribute-to-oscar-dropping-child-with-new-artwork-091535.html Banksy responds to Oscars] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311091129/http://swns.com/banksy-pays-tribute-to-oscar-dropping-child-with-new-artwork-091535.html |date=11 March 2011 }}. Swns.com (9 March 2011). Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' was broadcast on British public television station Channel 4 on 13 August 2011 as part of a night of other shows compiled by Banksy.

Banksy was credited with the opening couch gag for the 2010 ''The Simpsons'' episode "MoneyBart", depicting people working in deplorable conditions and using endangered or mythical animals to make both the episodes cel-by-cel and the merchandise connected with the program.<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513 |title= Banksy creates new Simpsons title sequence|access-date=12 October 2010|work=BBC News | date=11 October 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101012045931/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513| archive-date= 12 October 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> His name appears several times throughout the episode's opening sequence, spray-painted on assorted walls and signs. Fox sanitised parts of the opening "for taste" and to make it less grim. In January 2011, Banksy published the original storyboard on his website.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110126164711/http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/simp.html Original Storyboard] from banksy.co.uk, archived at web.archive.org</ref> According to Banksy, the storyboard "led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walkout by the animation department". Executive director Al Jean jokingly said, "This is what you get when you outsource."<ref name="BBCNews11OCt2010" />

=== 2011–2013 === In May 2011 Banksy released a lithographic print which showed a smoking petrol bomb contained in a 'Tesco Value' bottle. This followed a long-running campaign by locals against the opening of a Tesco Express supermarket in Banksy's home city of Bristol. Violent clashes had taken place between police and demonstrators in the Stokes Croft area. Banksy produced the poster ostensibly to raise money for local groups in the Stokes Croft area and to raise money for the legal defence of those arrested during the riots. The posters were sold exclusively at the Bristol Anarchists bookfair in Stokes Croft for £5 each. In December, he unveiled ''Cardinal Sin'' at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The bust, which replaces a priest's face with a pixelated effect, was a statement on the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.<ref name="BBCNews15Dec2011">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16184773 |work=BBC News |title=Banksy unveils church abuse work |date=15 December 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216045542/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16184773 |archive-date=16 December 2011 }}</ref>

In May 2012 his ''Parachuting Rat'', painted in Melbourne in the late 1990s, was accidentally destroyed by plumbers installing new pipes.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 "Banksy rat destroyed by builders"]. ''ABC News'' (Australia) (16 May 2012). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517061252/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 |date=17 May 2012 }}. Retrieved 25 November 2012.</ref> In July, prior to the 2012 Olympic Games Banksy posted photographs of paintings with an Olympic theme on his website but did not disclose their location.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18946654 "London 2012: Banksy and street artists' Olympic graffiti"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110030109/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18946654|date=10 November 2013}}. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18946654] . ''BBC News'' (24 July 2012).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/0/48809/Arts--Culture/0/British-Grafitti-artist-Banksy-in-Olympics-controv.aspx/ |title=British Graffiti artist Banksy in Olympics controversy |work=Ahram Online |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=30 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315000629/http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/0/48809/Arts--Culture/0/British-Grafitti-artist-Banksy-in-Olympics-controv.aspx/ |archive-date=15 March 2014 }}</ref>

On 18 February 2013, ''BBC News'' reported that a recent Banksy mural, known as the ''Slave Labour'' mural portraying a young child sewing Union Flag bunting (created around the time of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II), had been removed from the side of a Poundland store in Wood Green, north London, and soon appeared for sale in a catalogue of the US auction site Fine Art Auctions Miami. News of this caused "lots of anger" in the local community and is considered by some to be a theft. Fine Art Auctions Miami had rejected claims of theft, saying it had signed a contract with a "well-known collector" and that "everything was above board"; despite this, the local councillor for Wood Green campaigned for the work's return.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261 "Banksy mural vanishes from London, appears at US auction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218202946/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261|date=18 February 2013}}. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261] ''BBC News'' (18 February 2013). Retrieved 18 February 2013.</ref> On the scheduled day of the auction, Fine Art Auctions Miami withdrew the work of art from the sale.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-21562042 "Taken Banksy is withdrawn from sale"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250607145358/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-21562042|date=7 June 2025}}. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-21562042]. ''BBC News'' (24 February 2013). Retrieved 3 January 2014.</ref>

On 11 May, ''BBC News'' reported that the same Banksy mural was up for auction again in Covent Garden by the Sincura Group. The auction was scheduled to take place in June, and was expected to fetch up to £450,000 (€{{To EUR|450000|GBR|year=2013|r=-3}}).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Banksy mural up for auction again |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22492378 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513062057/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22492378 |archive-date=2013-05-13 |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> On 24 September, after over a year since his previous piece, a new mural went up on his website along with the subtitle ''Better Out Than In''.

Much criticism came forward during his series of works in New York in 2013. Many New York street artists, such as TrustoCorp, criticised Banksy, and much of his work was defaced.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/242028452/art-or-act-banksys-reviews-are-mixed |title=Art or Act? New Yorkers Give Banksy Residency Mixed Reviews |work=NPR |access-date=4 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102230024/http://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/242028452/art-or-act-banksys-reviews-are-mixed |archive-date=2 November 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/16/making-sense-of-the-banksy-backlash/ |magazine=Time |title=Making Sense of the Banksy Backlash |date=16 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926010033/http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/16/making-sense-of-the-banksy-backlash/ |archive-date=26 September 2015 }}</ref> In his column for ''The Guardian'', satirist Charlie Brooker wrote in 2006 that Banksy's "work looks dazzlingly clever to idiots".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.visualarts |title=Supposing ... Subversive genius Banksy is actually rubbish |first=Charlie |last=Brooker |work=The Guardian |date=22 September 2006 |access-date=31 January 2011 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002181851/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.visualarts |archive-date=2 October 2013 }}</ref>

==== ''Better Out Than In'' (2013) ==== {{Main|Better Out Than In}}

On 1 October 2013, Banksy began a one-month "show on the streets of [[New York City|New York [City]]]", for which he opened a separate website<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/ |title=Better Out Than In |author=Banksy |date=13 October 2013 |access-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018094050/http://www.banksy.co.uk/ |archive-date=18 October 2013 }}</ref> and granted an interview to ''The Village Voice'' via his publicist.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hamilton |first=Keegan |title=An Interview With Banksy, Street Art Cult Hero, International Man of Mystery |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=9 October 2013 |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-10-09/art/banksy-better-out-than-in-new-york-residency-street-art-graffiti/3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009092554/http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-10-09/art/banksy-better-out-than-in-new-york-residency-street-art-graffiti/3/ |archive-date=9 October 2013 }}</ref>

A pop-up boutique of about 25 spray-art canvases appeared on Fifth Avenue near Central Park on 12 October. Tourists were able to buy Banksy art for just US$60 (€{{To EUR|60|USA|year=2013|r=0}}) each.<ref name="BBC News-2013" /><ref name="ABC News" /><ref name=":8" /> In a note posted to his website, the artist wrote: "Please note this was a one-off. The stall will not be there again." The ''BBC'' estimated that the street-stall art pieces could be worth as much as US$31,000 (€{{To EUR|31000|USA|year=2013|r=-3}}). The booth was staffed by an unknown elderly man who went about four hours before making a sale, yawning and eating lunch as people strolled by without a second glance at the work. Banksy chronicled the surprise sale in a video posted to his website noting, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases."<ref name="BBC News-2013">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24518315 |title=Banksy stall sells art works for $60 in New York |work=BBC News |date=14 October 2013 |access-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017182807/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24518315 |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref name="ABC News">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-20562101 |title=Banksy: I Sold Original Artwork for $60 in NYC |work=ABC News |access-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017132744/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-20562101 |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/living/banksy-street-art-sale/?hpt=hp_c3 |title=Graffiti artist Banksy says he offered $60 paintings in Central Park |publisher=CNN |date=14 October 2013 |access-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006151409/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/14/living/banksy-street-art-sale/?hpt=hp_c3 |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref> Two of the canvasses sold at a July 2014 auction for $214,000 (€{{To EUR|214000|USA|year=2014|r=-3}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animalnewyork.com/2014/two-banksys-central-park-spray-art-canvases-sell-214000-auction/ |title=Two of Banksy's Central Park 'Spray Art' Canvases Sell for $214,000 at Auction |work=ANIMAL |access-date=12 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220061340/http://animalnewyork.com/2014/two-banksys-central-park-spray-art-canvases-sell-214000-auction/ |archive-date=20 February 2015 |date=7 July 2014 }}</ref>

Asked about the artist's presence in New York, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had led a citywide graffiti cleanup operation in 2002, said he did not consider graffiti a form of art.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hollister |first1=Sean |title=NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Banksy doesn't fit his definition of art |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/16/4845692/nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-says-banksy-doesnt-fit-his-definition-of |website=The Verge |language=en |date=16 October 2013 |access-date=18 September 2021 |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918002747/https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/16/4845692/nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-says-banksy-doesnt-fit-his-definition-of |url-status=live }}</ref> One creation was a fibreglass sculpture of Ronald McDonald and a real person, barefoot and in ragged clothes, shining the oversized shoes of Ronald McDonald. The sculpture was unveiled in Queens but moved outside a different McDonald's around the city every day.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grant |first=Drew |url=http://observer.com/2013/10/banksys-ronald-mcdonald-statue-and-live-shoeshine-boy-take-manhattan/ |title=Banksy Unveils 'Shoeshine Boy' at McDonald's |newspaper=The New York Observer |date=16 October 2013 |access-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017021138/http://observer.com/2013/10/banksys-ronald-mcdonald-statue-and-live-shoeshine-boy-take-manhattan/ |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-attacks-mcdonalds-in-new-sculpture-8887022.html |title=Banksy attacks McDonald's in new sculpture |first=Liam |last=O'Brien |date=17 October 2013 |work=The Independent |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018091258/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-attacks-mcdonalds-in-new-sculpture-8887022.html |archive-date=18 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/jonathanjonesblog/2013/oct/17/banksy-mcdonalds-new-york |title=Banksy gives Ronald McDonald's clown shoes a shine |first=Jonathan |last=Jones |work=The Guardian |date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202093648/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/jonathanjonesblog/2013/oct/17/banksy-mcdonalds-new-york |archive-date=2 February 2017 }}</ref> Other works included a YouTube video showing what appears to be footage of jihadist militants shooting down an animated Dumbo; travelling installations that toured the city including a slaughterhouse delivery truck full of stuffed animals and a waterfall; and a modified painting donated to a charity shop which was later sold in an online auction for US$615,000 (€{{To EUR|615000|USA|year=2013|r=-3}}).<ref name=cnn>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-banksy-residency-ends/ |title=Banksy bids farewell to New York with balloons |first=Chris |last=Boyette |work=CNN |date=1 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103215341/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-banksy-residency-ends/ |archive-date=3 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/banksy-donates-nazi-doctored-landscape-to-help-aids-group.html |title=Banksy's Nazi-Doctored Painting Raises $615,000 Online |first=Katya |last=Kazakina |date=1 November 2013 |work=Blomberg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024010306/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/banksy-donates-nazi-doctored-landscape-to-help-aids-group.html |archive-date=24 October 2014 }}</ref> Banksy also posted a mock-up of a ''New York Times'' op-ed attacking the design of the One World Trade Center after the ''Times'' rejected his submission.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/banksy-one-world-trade-center_n_4169568.html |title=Banksy Bashes One World Trade Center In Rejected New York Times Op-Ed |work=HuffPost |date=28 October 2013 |first=Inae |last=Oh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104111213/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/banksy-one-world-trade-center_n_4169568.html |archive-date=4 January 2014 }}</ref> The residency in New York concluded on 31 October 2013;<ref name=cnn/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10353135/Banksy-in-New-York-pictures.html |title=Banksy in New York pictures |work=The Telegraph |location=London |date=31 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226071449/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10353135/Banksy-in-New-York-pictures.html |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}</ref> many of the pieces, though, were either vandalised, removed or stolen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/10398575/Banksy-sphinx-sculpture-stolen-in-New-York.html |title=Banksy sphinx sculpture stolen in New York |first=Alice |last=Vincent |date=23 October 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226084923/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/10398575/Banksy-sphinx-sculpture-stolen-in-New-York.html |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}</ref>

=== 2015–2018 === In February 2015 Banksy published a 2-minute video titled ''Make this the year '''YOU''' discover a new destination'' about his trip to the Gaza Strip. During the visit, he painted a few artworks including a kitten on the remains of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike ("I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website—but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens") and a swing hanging off a watchtower. In a statement to ''The New York Times'' his publicist said,

{{blockquote|I don't want to take sides. But when you see entire suburban neighbourhoods reduced to rubble with no hope of a future—what you're really looking at is a vast outdoor recruitment centre for terrorists. And we should probably address this for all our sakes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy's Murals Turn Up In Gaza Strip |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389284591/banksys-murals-turn-up-in-gaza-strip |work=NPR |date=26 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228151348/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389284591/banksys-murals-turn-up-in-gaza-strip |archive-date=28 February 2015 }}</ref>}}

[[File:Dismaland overview 01-02 combined.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Dismaland (2015), a "bemusement park" in Weston-super-Mare]]

Banksy opened Dismaland, a large-scale group show modelled on Disneyland on 21 August 2015. It lampooned the many disappointing temporary themed attractions in the UK at the time. Dismaland permanently closed on 27 September 2015. The "theme park" was located in Weston-super-Mare.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dismaland |url=http://dismaland.co.uk/ |website=Dismaland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905212034/http://www.dismaland.co.uk/ |archive-date=5 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/21/banksy-dismaland-graffiti-art-market-capitalism-creativity |title=Banksy's Dismaland: fans express frustration over crashing website |last=Brown |first=Mark |date=21 August 2015 |work=The Guardian |access-date=21 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821164122/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/21/banksy-dismaland-graffiti-art-market-capitalism-creativity |archive-date=21 August 2015 }}</ref> According to the Dismaland website, artists represented on the show include Damien Hirst and Jenny Holzer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dismaland |url=http://dismaland.co.uk/artists/ |website=Dismaland |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821005854/http://dismaland.co.uk/artists/ |archive-date=21 August 2015 }}</ref> In December, Banksy created several murals in the vicinity of Calais, including the so-called "Jungle", where migrants then lived as they attempted to enter the United Kingdom. One of the pieces, ''The Son of a Migrant from Syria'', depicts Steve Jobs as a migrant.<ref name=stevejobs>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35076976 |title=Banksy work in Calais 'Jungle' shows Steve Jobs as migrant |work=BBC News |date=11 December 2015 |access-date=12 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212103238/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35076976 |archive-date=12 December 2015 }}</ref>

In 2017, marking the 100th anniversary of the British control of Palestine, Banksy financed the creation of the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem. This hotel is open to the public and contains rooms designed by Banksy, Sami Musa, and Dominique Petrin, and each of the bedrooms faces the wall. It also houses a contemporary art gallery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://walledoffhotel.com/questions.html|title=The Walled Off Hotel|website=walledoffhotel.com|access-date=14 March 2018|archive-date=18 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218150519/http://walledoffhotel.com/questions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 2018 saw Banksy return to New York five years after his ''Better Out Than In'' residency. A trademark rat running around the circumference of a clock-face, dubbed ''Rat race'', was torn down by developers within a week of it appearing on a former bank building at 101 West 14th Street,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://descrier.co.uk/culture/banksys-new-york-rat-removed-in-less-than-a-week/|title=Banksy's New York rat removed in less than a week|website=Descrier|access-date=23 March 2018|date=22 March 2018|archive-date=24 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324041225/https://descrier.co.uk/culture/banksys-new-york-rat-removed-in-less-than-a-week/|url-status=live}}</ref> but other works, including a mural of imprisoned Kurdish artist Zehra Doğan on the famed Bowery Wall and a series of others across Brooklyn, remain on display.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/433179/new-banksy-murals-midwood-brooklyn/|title=Banksy Blitz Continues in NYC with New Murals in Brooklyn|website=Hyperallergic|access-date=23 March 2018|date=19 March 2018|archive-date=24 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324041630/https://hyperallergic.com/433179/new-banksy-murals-midwood-brooklyn/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== ''Love Is in the Bin'' (2018) ==== {{main|Love Is in the Bin}}

In October 2018, a Banksy work, initially titled the ''Girl with Balloon'', was sold for £1.042M (€{{To EUR|1.042|GBR|year=2018|r=1}}M) at London auction house Sotheby's. The purchaser of the work was an unnamed European woman. As the gavel hit the sound-block, an alarm sounded within the picture frame and the Banksy canvas passed through a shredder hidden within the frame, partially shredding the picture.<ref name="Badshah-2021">{{Cite news |last=Badshah |first=Nadeem |date=2021-10-14 |title=Banksy sets auction record with £18.5m sale of shredded painting |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/oct/14/banksy-auction-record-shredded-painting-love-is-in-the-bin |access-date=2024-02-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304232452/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/oct/14/banksy-auction-record-shredded-painting-love-is-in-the-bin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Christian 2018">{{cite web | last=Christian | first=Natasha | title=Street artist Banksy releases video showing auction shredding prank was years in the making | website=The West Australian | date=7 October 2018 | url=https://thewest.com.au/news/offbeat/street-artist-banksy-releases-video-showing-auction-shredding-prank-was-years-in-the-making-ng-b88983688z | access-date=7 October 2018 | archive-date=7 October 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007111611/https://thewest.com.au/news/offbeat/street-artist-banksy-releases-video-showing-auction-shredding-prank-was-years-in-the-making-ng-b88983688z | url-status=live }}</ref> Banksy then posted an image of the shredding on Instagram captioned "Going, going, gone...".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/06/banksy-sothebys-auction-prank-leaves-art-world-in-shreds-girl-with-balloon |title=Banksy auction prank leaves art world in shreds |first=Chris |last=Johnston |date=6 October 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=6 October 2018 |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905135526/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/06/banksy-sothebys-auction-prank-leaves-art-world-in-shreds-girl-with-balloon |url-status=live }}</ref> After the sale, the auction house acknowledged that the self-destruction of the work was a prank by the artist.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45770028|title=Banksy artwork shreds itself after sale|date=6 October 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=6 October 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911062559/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45770028|url-status=live}}</ref> The prank received wide news coverage around the world, with one newspaper stating that it was "quite possibly the biggest prank in art history".<ref name="Christian 2018" /> Joey Syer, co-founder of an online platform facilitating art dealer sales,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/mar/27/meet-the-entrepreneurs-shaking-up-the-art-world|title=Meet the entrepreneurs shaking up the art world|first=Coco|last=Khan|date=27 March 2017|website=The Guardian|access-date=7 October 2018|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007183623/https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/mar/27/meet-the-entrepreneurs-shaking-up-the-art-world|url-status=live}}</ref> told the ''Evening Standard'': "The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the £1M they paid last night, this is now part of art history in its shredded state and we'd estimate Banksy has added a minimum of 50% to its value, possibly as high as being worth £2M+."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-artwork-selfdestructs-moments-after-being-sold-at-sothebys-for-1million-a3955111.html|title=£1m Banksy artwork shredded at auction 'now worth double'|date=6 October 2018|access-date=7 October 2018|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007120858/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-artwork-selfdestructs-moments-after-being-sold-at-sothebys-for-1million-a3955111.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A man seen filming the shredding of the picture during its auction has been suggested to be Banksy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-mystery-man-who-films-at-banksy-auction-11519745 |title=Who's the mystery man who films at Banksy prank auction? |year=2018 |work=Sky News |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519015939/https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-mystery-man-who-films-at-banksy-auction-11519745 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/banksys-girl-with-balloon-renamed-love-is-in-bin/index.html |title=Banksy's 'Girl with Balloon' sale is confirmed – and it's got a new name |date=11 October 2018 |publisher=CNN |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519041519/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/banksys-girl-with-balloon-renamed-love-is-in-bin/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Banksy has since released a video on how the shredder was installed into the frame and the shredding of the picture, explaining that he had surreptitiously fitted the painting with the shredder a few years previously, in case it ever went up for auction. To explain his rationale for destroying his own artwork, Banksy quoted Picasso: "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2018/oct/07/banksy-publishes-video-detailing-auction-prank-plan-video |title= Banksy publishes video detailing auction stunt plan – video |date= 7 October 2018 |work= The Guardian |access-date= 7 October 2018 |archive-date= 15 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210115162509/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2018/oct/07/banksy-publishes-video-detailing-auction-prank-plan-video |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-explains-prank-shredded-girl-with-balloon-sothebys-auction-a8572956.html|title=Banksy explains why and how he destroyed artwork that had just been sold for £1m|work=The Independent|access-date=8 October 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008122540/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-explains-prank-shredded-girl-with-balloon-sothebys-auction-a8572956.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (Although Banksy cited Picasso, this quote is usually attributed to Mikhail Bakunin.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1426115|title=Mikhail Bakunin Quote|website=A-Z Quotes|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009211731/https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1426115|url-status=live}}</ref> It is not known how the shredder was activated.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45770028|title=Banksy posts video of shredding stunt|date=6 October 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=6 October 2018|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911062559/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45770028|url-status=live}}</ref> Banksy has released another video indicating that the painting was intended to be shredded completely. The video shows a sample painting completely shredded by the frame and says: "In rehearsals it worked every time..."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxkwRNIZgdY |title=Shredding the Girl and Balloon – The Director’s half cut |language=en |access-date=2026-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024075905/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxkwRNIZgdY |archive-date=2018-10-24 |work=YouTube |author=Banksy}}</ref>

The woman who won the bidding at the auction decided to go through with the purchase. The partially shredded work has been given a new title, ''Love Is in the Bin'', and it was authenticated by Banksy's authentication body, Pest Control Office Ltd. Sotheby's released a statement that said "Banksy didn't destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one", and called it "the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/11/woman-who-bought-shredded-banksy-artwork-will-go-through-with-sale |title=Woman who bought shredded Banksy artwork will go through with purchase |first=Mattha |last=Busby |date=11 October 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519052330/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/11/woman-who-bought-shredded-banksy-artwork-will-go-through-with-sale |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/banksy-re-authenticates-shredded-1-4-million-european-buyer-will-keep-1369852|title=Banksy Authenticates and Renames His Shredded $1.4 Million Painting—Which the Buyer Plans to Keep|first=Eileen|last=Kinsella|date=11 October 2018|work=artnet|access-date=12 October 2018|archive-date=19 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519015837/https://news.artnet.com/market/banksy-re-authenticates-shredded-1-4-million-european-buyer-will-keep-1369852|url-status=live}}</ref> On 14 October 2021, the remains of the partially-shredded painting was reported by ''The Guardian'' to have been re-sold by Sotheby's auction house, for £18,582,000 (€{{To EUR|18.582|GBR|year=2021|r=1}}M), in London.<ref name="Badshah-2021" /><ref name="NPR-20211014">{{cite news |last=Pruitt-Young |first=Sharon |title=A half-shredded Banksy piece is auctioned for $25.4 million, a record for the artist |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/14/1046134451/banksy-shredded-auction-sold-record |date=14 October 2021 |work=NPR |accessdate=15 October 2021 |archive-date=15 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015010251/https://www.npr.org/2021/10/14/1046134451/banksy-shredded-auction-sold-record |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2018–2019 === A two-sided graffiti piece, one side depicting a child tasting the falling snow, the other revealing that the snow is in fact smoke and embers from a dumpster fire, appeared on two walls of a steelworker's garage in Port Talbot in December.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2018-12-19/is-this-the-work-of-banksy/|title=Is this the work of Banksy?|date=19 December 2018|website=ITV News|language=en|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-date=20 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220231037/https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2018-12-19/is-this-the-work-of-banksy/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-port-talbot-wales-gbr-scli/index.html|title=Banksy confirms he's behind new mural|last=Robinson|first=Matthew|date=19 December 2018|website=CNN Style|language=en|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219172704/https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-port-talbot-wales-gbr-scli/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Banksy then revealed that the painting was in fact his via an Instagram video soundtracked by the festive children's song "Little Snowflake".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/has-a-new-banksy-painting-been-spotted-in-wales-port-talbot-2423060|title=Banksy confirms he's behind new painting spotted in Wales|last=Reilly|first=Nick|date=19 December 2018|website=NME|language=en-US|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219184632/https://www.nme.com/news/has-a-new-banksy-painting-been-spotted-in-wales-port-talbot-2423060|url-status=live}}</ref> Many fans of the artist went to see the painting and Plaid Cymru councillor for Aberavon, Nigel Thomas Hunt, stated that the town was "buzzing" with speculation that the work was Banksy's. The owner of the garage, Ian Lewis, said that he had lost sleep over fears that the image would be vandalised.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46617742|title=Banksy confirms new 'snow' artwork is his|date=19 December 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=19 December 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219162407/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46617742|url-status=live}}</ref> A plastic screen, partially funded by Michael Sheen, was installed to protect the mural, but was attacked by a "drunk halfwit".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/23/banksy-artwork-in-port-talbot-targeted-by-suspected-attacker|title=Banksy anti-pollution artwork in Port Talbot targeted|last=Booth|first=Robert|date=23 December 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=23 December 2018|archive-date=23 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223175647/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/23/banksy-artwork-in-port-talbot-targeted-by-suspected-attacker|url-status=live}}</ref> Extra security guards were subsequently drafted to protect the graffiti piece.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46664631|title=Banksy's Port Talbot snow mural attacked by 'drunk halfwit'|date=23 December 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=23 December 2018|archive-date=23 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223115646/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46664631|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2019, the mural was moved to a gallery in the town's Ty'r Orsaf building.<ref name="Fyfe-29May2019">{{cite news |last1=Fyfe |first1=Will |title=Port Talbot Banksy mural: Artwork arrives at new home |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48434084 |access-date=11 June 2019 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=29 May 2019 |archive-date=2 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602003214/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48434084 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In early October 2019, Banksy opened a "pop-up shop" named ''Gross Domestic Product'' in Croydon, South London, to strengthen his position in a trademark dispute with a greeting card company that had challenged his trademark on the grounds that he was not using it. In a statement, Banksy said "A [greeting card] company is contesting the trademark I hold to my art, and attempting to take custody of my name so they can sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49895129|title=Banksy shop featuring Stormzy stab vest appears in Croydon|date=1 October 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002013020/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49895129|url-status=live}}</ref> Mark Stephens, arts lawyer and founder of the Design and Artists Copyright Society, called the case a "ludicrous litigation" and is providing the artist legal advice. Stephens recommended opening the shop to Banksy on the grounds that it would show he is making use of his trademark, saying: "Because [Banksy] doesn't produce his own range of shoddy merchandise and the law is quite clear—if the trademark holder is not using the mark, then it can be transferred to someone who will."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/oct/01/banksy-launches-homewares-shop-in-dispute-over-trademark|title=Banksy launches homewares shop in dispute over trademark|date=1 October 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002002239/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/oct/01/banksy-launches-homewares-shop-in-dispute-over-trademark|url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 October, greeting card distributor Full Colour Black publicly revealed itself as the company involved in the trademark dispute whilst rejecting Banksy's claims as "entirely untrue". The company claimed it had contacted Banksy's lawyers several times to offer to pay royalties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49941281|title=Banksy: Card firm rejects 'custody' claim|date=4 October 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-date=7 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007104902/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49941281|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 14 September 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled in favour of Full Colour Black in the trademark dispute over Banksy's infamous "Flower Thrower".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rivera|first=Isabella|date=30 November 2020|title=Voided Banksy TM|url=https://itsartlaw.org/2020/11/30/voided-banksy/|website=Center for Art Law|access-date=5 May 2021|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505170638/https://itsartlaw.org/2020/11/30/voided-banksy/|url-status=live}}</ref> The European panel judges in ''Full Colour Black Ltd v Pest Control Office Ltd'' [2020] E.T.M.R. 58) decided that Banksy's trademark was invalid as it had been filed in bad faith according to Regulation 2017/1001 art.59(1)(b).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32017R1001&rid=3|title=Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trademark (codification)|access-date=5 May 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507122647/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32017R1001&rid=3|url-status=live}}</ref> The judges were not convinced that the opening of the artist's "pop-up shop" demonstrated a real intention to legitimise the trademark, condemning it as "inconsistent with the honest practices of the trade" [at 1141]. The artist's choice to be represented anonymously was not received well by the court either, noting that even if they found in favour of Banksy, legal rights could not be attributed to an unidentifiable person [1151]. However, counsel for the defence strongly argued that to reveal his identity would diminish the persona of the artist [at 1135]. Although not binding, the judges also referenced Banksy's previously critical statements about copyright, which contributed to the lack of sympathy for the artist's case [at 1144].

In October 2019, a 2009 painting by Banksy entitled "Devolved Parliament", showing Members of Parliament depicted as chimpanzees in the House of Commons, sold at Sotheby's in London for just under £9.9M (€{{To EUR|9.9|GBR|year=2019|r=1}}M). On Instagram, the artist said it was a "record price for a Banksy painting" and "shame I didn't still own it".<ref name="record sale"/> At {{convert|13|ft|4=0|abbr=on|order=flip}} wide, it is Banksy's biggest known work on canvas. The auction house stated: "Regardless of where you sit in the Brexit debate, there's no doubt that this work is more pertinent now than it has ever been."<ref name="record sale">{{cite news |title=Banksy MPs as chimpanzees painting sells for £9.9m |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-49924281 |access-date=3 October 2019 |work=BBC News |archive-date=3 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003212211/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-49924281 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2020–2024 === On 13 February 2020, the Valentine's Banksy mural appeared on the side of a building in Bristol's Barton Hill neighbourhood, depicting a young girl firing a slingshot of real red flowers and leaves.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Morris|first1=Steven|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/13/say-it-with-banksy-valentines-gift-catapults-house-to-street-art-fame|title=Say it with Banksy? Valentine's gift catapults house to street art fame|date=13 February 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=14 February 2020|last2=Fisher|first2=Ben|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213230658/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/13/say-it-with-banksy-valentines-gift-catapults-house-to-street-art-fame|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early hours of Valentine's Day (14 February), Banksy confirmed this was his work on his Instagram account and website.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/14/valentines-day-art-bristol-confirmed-banksy-his-work|title=Valentine's Day art in Bristol confirmed by Banksy as his work|date=14 February 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=14 February 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=24 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224221102/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/14/valentines-day-art-bristol-confirmed-banksy-his-work|url-status=live}}</ref> The painting was defaced just days after appearing.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Agence France-Presse |title=New Banksy Valentine's Day artwork vandalised |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3050819/new-banksy-valentines-day-artwork-vandalised |access-date=15 February 2020 |website=South China Morning Post |date=16 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215190619/https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3050819/new-banksy-valentines-day-artwork-vandalised |url-status=live }}</ref> Banksy dedicated a painting titled ''Painting for Saints'' or ''Game Changer'' to NHS staff, and donated it to the University Hospital of Southampton during the global COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Banksy donates new artwork honoring health care workers to hospital|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-hospital-trnd/index.html|first=Allen|last=Kim|date=7 May 2020|publisher=CNN|language=en|access-date=11 May 2020|archive-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507014624/https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-hospital-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The painting was sold for £14.4M (£16.8M including buyer premium; or €{{To EUR|16.8|GBR|year=2021|r=1}}M) on 23 March 2021, which is a record for an artwork by Banksy. The proceeds from the sale would benefit a number of NHS-related organisations and charities.<ref name="game changer">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-56497104 |title=Covid: Banksy painting raises £14.4m for NHS charities |work=BBC News |date=23 March 2021 |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192639/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-56497104 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2021, the image of an escaping prisoner appeared overnight on the side of Reading Prison.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Isobel |title=Banksy: Potential artwork appears overnight on side of Reading Prison |date=2 March 2021 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-reading-prison-oscar-wilde-b1809232.html |publisher=The Independent |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304181039/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-reading-prison-oscar-wilde-b1809232.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Two days later Banksy claimed the artwork. The former prison's next use had been disputed locally, some wanting it to be used as an arts hub, while developers proposed it could be sold to a housing developer.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |title=Banksy confirms escaping prisoner artwork at Reading jail |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-56243680 |publisher=BBC |date=4 March 2021 |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304165224/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-56243680 |url-status=live }}</ref> The escaping prisoner was said to resemble Oscar Wilde, who had been imprisoned in Reading Prison, with the "rope" as tied together bedsheets with a typewriter attached to the end.<ref name=bbc />

In August 2021, several Banksy artworks, collectively titled ''A Great British Spraycation'', appeared in several East Anglian towns.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy-style pieces appear in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-58121178|work=BBC News|date=7 August 2021|access-date=9 August 2021|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810154452/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-58121178|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-58145220|title = Banksy: A guide to his 'Great British Spraycation'|work = BBC News|date = 17 August 2021|access-date = 14 August 2021|archive-date = 14 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210814050602/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-58145220|url-status = live}}</ref> Banksy created an original artwork for the 2021 BBC One/Amazon Prime Video comedy ''The Outlaws''. The image of a stencilled rat sitting on two spray cans signed by Banksy featured in the sixth episode of the first series, and was painted over by the character Frank, played by Christopher Walken, while he was cleaning a graffiti-covered wall as part of his Community Payback sentence.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/christopher-walken-banksy-outlaws-bbc-b1955657.html|title=Banksy artwork painted over by Christopher Walken in The Outlaws finale was real, BBC confirms|last=Lewis|first=Isobel|date=11 November 2021|work=The Independent|accessdate=17 November 2021|archive-date=11 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111233840/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/christopher-walken-banksy-outlaws-bbc-b1955657.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Children of War, Maidan.jpg|thumb|Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), Kyiv, Ukraine]] [[File:Banksy in Irpin.jpg|thumb|A mural on the wall of a bombed building in Irpin, Ukraine]] [[File:Banksy stamp judo.png|thumb|Ukrainian stamp after a 2022 mural in Borodianka, Ukraine]] In November 2022, Banksy posted on social media images of a mural on the side of a damaged building at the town of Borodianka, appearing to confirm a visit to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/nov/12/banksy-artwork-appears-on-damaged-building-in-ukraine |title=Banksy artwork appears on damaged building in Ukraine |last=Tondo |first=Lorenzo |newspaper=The Guardian |date=12 November 2022 |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112002256/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/nov/12/banksy-artwork-appears-on-damaged-building-in-ukraine |url-status=live }}</ref> He also created six murals in Kyiv, Irpin, Hostomel and Horenka.<ref>{{Cite news|last= |first=|date=14 November 2022|title=Banksy in Ukraine: seven new works appear in war-torn sites|work=The Art Newspaper|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/14/banksy-in-ukraine-seven-new-works-appear-in-war-torn-sites|accessdate=15 November 2022|archive-date=14 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114143343/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/14/banksy-in-ukraine-seven-new-works-appear-in-war-torn-sites}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=15 November 2022|script-title=uk:У Бородянці, Гостомелі та Ірпені. 7 графіті Бенксі|trans-title=7 Banksy graffiti in Borodyanka, Hostomel and Irpin|script-work=uk:Вікенд|trans-work=Weekend|url=https://weekend.today/kolonki/benksi-na-kyyivshhyni.htm|accessdate=15 November 2022|archive-date=15 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115094013/https://weekend.today/kolonki/benksi-na-kyyivshhyni.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the images he produced in Borodianka was of Russian president Vladimir Putin in a judo throw. The image has since been turned into a stamp in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-02-26 |title=Ukraine's Banksy stamps feature art of Putin in judo match |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64774717 |access-date=2023-02-26 |archive-date=26 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226091639/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64774717 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Banksy was accused of being "inconsistent with honest practices" when trying to trademark his image of a protester throwing a bouquet of flowers. The European Union trademark office threw out his trademark claim, "saying he had filed it in order to avoid using copyright laws, which are separate and would have required [him] to reveal his true identity. The ruling quoted from one of his books, in which he said 'copyright is for losers'."<ref name="bbcflowerbombertm">{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54189113|title= Banksy loses battle with greetings card firm over 'flower bomber' trademark|access-date= 15 December 2020|work= BBC News|date= 17 September 2020|archive-date= 18 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201118030113/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54189113|url-status= live}}</ref>

On St Patricks Day 2024, a confirmed Banksy "mural" appeared overnight on a flank wall of a housing estate near to Finsbury Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy artwork appears on side of flats in north London |url=https://news.sky.com/story/banksy-artwork-appears-on-side-of-flats-in-north-london-13097483 |publisher=Sky News |access-date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318144703/https://news.sky.com/story/banksy-artwork-appears-on-side-of-flats-in-north-london-13097483 |url-status=live }}</ref> The artwork is located in an area known as Upper Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The mural is behind a stark heavily pruned tree, which dominates the foreground.<ref>{{cite news |title=Banksy: Artist confirms new London tree mural is his own work |work=BBC News |date=18 March 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68596824 |access-date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318144703/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68596824 |url-status=live }}</ref> The artwork's green shades and leafy foliage used paint that matches Islington's own municipal green, which is used on their housing estate nameplates. The sprawling artwork gives the impression of lush foliage in full leaf on the wall backdrop. An adjoining life size figure is stencilled onto the wall at ground level, showing a worker using a pressure washer, as if they were spontaneously spraying the artwork.<ref name="BBC News-2024">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-17 |title=New London mural prompts Banksy speculation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68592907 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318092527/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68592907 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the first to visit the Banksy, was the local MP, Jeremy Corbyn.<ref name="BBC News-2024" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rawlinson |first=Kevin |date=2024-03-18 |title=Banksy confirms north London tree mural is his work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/mar/18/north-london-tree-mural-prompts-banksy-speculation |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318192747/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/mar/18/north-london-tree-mural-prompts-banksy-speculation |url-status=live }}</ref> Experts have speculated that the choice of subject and the location make it difficult to remove to sell at auction, as the context of the setting is everything and the sale value would be minimal.

In August 2024, he claimed credit for a number of black silhouette compositions, that appeared in London and were part of an animal-themed series. Various theories exist for what they mean and represent, with the artist himself declining to comment.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Liz Jackson, Adriana Elgueta |date=2024-08-08 |title=Banksy howling wolf artwork removed after reveal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrjyv2dwnvo |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=8 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808140253/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrjyv2dwnvo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Aurelia Foster, Freddy Tennyson|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20l71yyxp1o|title=Fifth Banksy in five days appears in London|work=BBC News|date=2024-08-09|access-date=2024-08-09|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809174800/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20l71yyxp1o|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2025–present === [[File:Banksy statue 2026 - Waterloo Place, St James, London.jpg|thumb|Banksy statue in Waterloo Place in London 2026.]] In February 2025, it was announced that Banksy, or a representative, is to appear at a tribunal at the UK's Intellectual Property Office. The tribunal will be one of the few times that the secretive artist’s legal team – or those representing the artist – will speak in public.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Banksy Battles On |url=https://guyhepner.com/news/315-banksy-battles-on-i-fought-the-trademark-law/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Guy Hepner |language=en |archive-date=15 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250215222409/https://guyhepner.com/news/315-banksy-battles-on-i-fought-the-trademark-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2025, he revealed a new artwork depicting a lighthouse, located in the streets of Marseille.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Adamson |first1=Thomas |last2=Eltoni |first2=Bisher |last3=Lawless |first3=Jill |date=2025-05-30 |title=In Marseille, a shadow becomes art in Banksy's latest street mural |url=https://apnews.com/article/banksy-street-artist-new-lighthouse-marseille-e25dd4c720df880ae0c462a8076a065f |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=31 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250531094937/https://apnews.com/article/banksy-street-artist-new-lighthouse-marseille-e25dd4c720df880ae0c462a8076a065f |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-05-30 |title=New Banksy mural appears in Marseille, depicting a lighthouse |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/05/30/we-love-it-marseille-discovers-new-banksy-artwork_6741840_7.html |access-date=2025-05-31 |language=en}}</ref>

In the early hours of 8 September 2025, passers-by noticed a Banksy mural on the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It depicted a protester being beaten with a gavel by a judge.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Banksy artwork shows judge beating protester amid Palestine Action protest arrests storm |date=8 September 2025 |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-royal-courts-of-justice-building-covered-up-b1246517.html |publisher=Evening Standard |access-date=8 September 2025 |archive-date=16 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916175740/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-royal-courts-of-justice-building-covered-up-b1246517.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The work became controversial due to its location on a prominent judicial landmark, which some media commentators said was connected to the recent arrests and prosecutions in the UK of protestors of various causes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harding |first1=Laura |title=New Banksy artwork at the Royal Courts of Justice already covered up |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/banksy-royal-courts-of-justice-building-london-peckham-b2822186.html |work=The Independent |date=8 September 2025 }}</ref> The artwork was covered up on the same day in the afternoon with a large metal sheet and fencing. Workmen were pictured at the mural a day later.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Ahmed | first1=Kaamil | title=Court staff cover up Banksy image of judge beating a protester | work=The Guardian | date=8 September 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/sep/08/court-staff-cover-up-banksy-image-of-judge-beating-a-protester }}</ref> On 10 September, the mural was removed from the building, but it had left a shadow of the mural and was still partly visible, but heavily faded.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Banksy artwork being removed from Royal Courts of Justice wall in London |url=https://news.sky.com/story/new-banksy-artwork-being-removed-from-royal-courts-of-justice-wall-in-london-13428144 |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Sky News |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250920095844/https://news.sky.com/story/new-banksy-artwork-being-removed-from-royal-courts-of-justice-wall-in-london-13428144 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 21 December 2025, Banksy revealed a new mural on a wall in Bayswater, central London of two small children dressed in winter clothing and lying on their backs and pointing towards the sky; Banksy acknowledged the work in an Instagram post. A similar image appeared on 19 December, near the Centre Point tower in central London but Banksy has not claimed this work.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-22 |title=Banksy's New Mural of Stargazing Children Pops Up in London |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/banksy-new-mural-queens-mews-centrepoint-london-2733570 |access-date=2025-12-24 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-12-22 |title=Two New Banksy Murals Appear in London |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/europe/uk-banksy-mural-children-homeless.html |access-date=2025-12-24 |language=en}}</ref>

On 29 April 2026, Banksy installed a statue, ''Blind Patriotism'', in Waterloo Place in London.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dale |first=Alex |date=May 5, 2026 |title=Banksy’s art for the lanyard classes |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/05/05/banksys-art-for-the-lanyard-classes/ |access-date=2026-05-05 |website=Spiked |language=en-GB}}</ref> The statue depicts a man holding a flag as he walks off the plinth he is standing on.<ref name="Foster-2026" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wells |first=Tao |date=May 2026 |title=All art is a flag |url=https://largeprintbenefitofdoubt.blogspot.com/2026/05/large-print-benefit-of-doubt-issue-7.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawR4V8dleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFqeWE5am5lb3paT0JCMVpzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmte0syZcV18h14OqVlPZpY1xTcaHQ-R04hvzoil3U3Ognktff7w_BSzLnXR_aem_v9816ICDmhRe5Et6thIEEA |journal=Large Print |volume=7 |pages=12}}</ref>

== Other artworks == Banksy has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile artworks, including the following: * At London Zoo, he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in {{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=|order=flip|0}} high letters.<ref>{{cite news|first=William |last=Langley |date=18 March 2007 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3638535/For-the-Gauguin-of-graffiti-it-was-all-about-tagging.-Now-hes-into-six-figure-price-tags.html |title=For the Gauguin of graffiti it was all about tagging. Now he's into six-figure price tags |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=9 November 2014 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110065926/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3638535/For-the-Gauguin-of-graffiti-it-was-all-about-tagging.-Now-hes-into-six-figure-price-tags.html |archive-date=10 November 2014 }}</ref> * At London Zoo, he left the message "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring." in the elephant enclosure.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/design/24arti.html |title=Need Talent to Exhibit in Museums? Not This Prankster |access-date=12 June 2008 |date=24 March 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Randy |last=Kennedy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211141929/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/design/24arti.html |archive-date=11 December 2008 }}</ref> * In 2004, he placed the piece ''Banksus Militus Ratus'' into London's Natural History Museum.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Natural History Museum exhibits an unnatural specimen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/08/arts.education|last=Dodd|first=Vikram|date=8 April 2004|access-date=7 October 2020|work=The Guardian|archive-date=14 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014055255/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/08/arts.education|url-status=live}}</ref> * In March 2005, he placed subverted artworks in the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan as well as the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html |title=A Wooster Exclusive: Banksy Hits New York's Most Famous Museums (All of them) |access-date=19 September 2006 |date=23 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909040458/http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/a_wooster_exclusive_banksy_hit.html |archive-date=9 September 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * In May 2005 Peckham Rock, Banksy's version of a primitive cave painting depicting a human figure hunting wildlife while pushing a shopping trolley, was hung in gallery 49 of the British Museum, London.<ref name=wired>{{cite journal |first=Jeff |last=Howe |journal=Wired |volume=13 |issue=8 |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html |title=Art Attack |date=August 2005 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060902025945/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html| archive-date= 2 September 2006 |url-status=live |access-date=3 January 2014}}</ref> * In August 2005, Banksy painted nine images on the Israeli West Bank barrier, including an image of a ladder going up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall.<ref name="JonesIsrael" /><ref name="BBCNews5Aug2005">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm |title=Art prankster sprays Israeli wall |work=BBC News |date=5 August 2005 |access-date=19 September 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060425143503/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4748063.stm |archive-date=25 April 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Parry |url=http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml |title=British Graffiti Artist, Banksy, Hacks the Wall |date=10 October 2006 |work=MIT Thresholds |access-date=12 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211151040/http://nigelparry.com/writing/banksy-mit-threshholds.shtml |archive-date=11 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * In October 2005, Banksy designed six station IDs for Nickelodeon.<ref>{{cite web|author=loveforlogos |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aehLH1w8I |title=Nickelodeon Next ID (2005) |via=YouTube |date=29 July 2012 |access-date=25 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703185114/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aehLH1w8I |archive-date=3 July 2013 }}</ref> * In April 2006, Banksy created a sculpture based on a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side, apparently bleeding, and placed it in a side street in Soho, London. It was later removed by Westminster Council.<ref name="BBCNews7Apr2007">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4887660.stm |title=Artist's cold call cuts off phone |work=BBC News |date=7 April 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207050232/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4887660.stm |archive-date=7 December 2006 }}</ref> * In June 2006, Banksy created ''Well Hung Lover'', an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall visible from Park Street in central Bristol. The image sparked "a heated debate",<ref name="HSH p93">Steve Wright (2007), ''Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home'', p. 93</ref> with the Bristol City Council leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go.<ref name="nakedman">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5103306.stm |title=Artist's saucy stencil for city |date=21 June 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 |work=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312220427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5103306.stm |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref> After an internet discussion in which 97% of the 500 people surveyed supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building.<ref name="HSH p93" /> The mural was later defaced with blue paint.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/8114184.stm |title=Banksy mural defaced with paint |date=23 June 2009 |access-date=23 June 2009 |work=BBC News| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090626223938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8114184.stm| archive-date= 26 June 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> * In August/September 2006, Banksy placed up to 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut CD, ''Paris'', in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by Danger Mouse. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why Am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?", and "What Am I For?". Several copies of the CD were purchased by the public before stores were able to remove them, some going on to be sold for as much as £750 on online auction websites such as eBay. The cover art depicted Hilton digitally altered to appear topless. Other pictures feature her with her chihuahua Tinkerbell's head replacing her own, and one of her stepping out of a luxury car, edited to include a group of homeless people, which included the caption "90% of success is just showing up."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm |title=Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank |work=BBC News |date=4 September 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060910085841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm| archive-date= 10 September 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Claire |last1=Truscott |first2=Martin |last2=Hodgson |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece |title=Banksy targets Paris Hilton |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday |date=3 September 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 | location=London| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060905204207/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1325440.ece| archive-date= 5 September 2006 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=10995 |title=Paris Prank Confirmed |date=7 September 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121184105/http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=10995 |archive-date=21 November 2006 }}</ref> * In September 2006, Banksy dressed an inflatable doll in the manner of a Guantanamo Bay detainment camp prisoner (orange jumpsuit, black hood, and handcuffs) and then placed the figure within the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html |title=The story Disneyland doesn't want you to know |date=8 September 2006 |access-date=19 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015233859/http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/09/breaking_the_story_disneyland_doesnt_wan.html |archive-date=15 October 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm|title=Artist Banksy targets Disneyland|work=BBC News |date=11 September 2006|access-date=19 September 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061005170241/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm| archive-date= 5 October 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> * He makes stickers (the Neighbourhood Watch subvert) and was responsible for the cover art of Blur's 2003 album ''Think Tank''. * In September 2007, Banksy covered a wall in Portobello Road with a French artist painting graffiti of Banksy's name.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm|title=£208,100 eBay bid for Banksy wall|date=14 January 2008|access-date=14 January 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080117104716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7188387.stm| archive-date= 17 January 2008 | url-status=live| work=BBC News}}</ref> *A guard/police officer with a balloon animal was painted in the Canadian city of Toronto in 2010, and has since been removed from its original location and preserved.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-14 |title=Banksy behind glass: Artwork gets new Toronto home |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/entertainment/banksy-behind-glass-artwork-gets-new-toronto-home-1.3284577 |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=CTV News |language=en |archive-date=17 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317215646/https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/entertainment/banksy-behind-glass-artwork-gets-new-toronto-home-1.3284577 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * In July 2012, in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic games he created several pieces based upon this event. One included an image of an athlete throwing a missile instead of a javelin, evidently taking a poke at the surface to air missile sites positioned in the Stratford area to defend the games.<ref>{{cite web|author=Eurosport |url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/londonspy/london-could-destroy-banksy-valuable-olympic-graffiti-091627080.html |title=London could destroy Banksy's valuable Olympic graffiti |work=Yahoo! Eurosport |date=25 July 2012 |access-date=25 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109220647/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/londonspy/london-could-destroy-banksy-valuable-olympic-graffiti-091627080.html |archive-date=9 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/24/london-2012-banksy-street-art_n_1697535.html |title=London 2012: Street Artist Banksy's Olympic Graffiti Unveiled (Pictures) |work=HuffPost |date= 26 July 2012|access-date=25 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727001859/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/24/london-2012-banksy-street-art_n_1697535.html |archive-date=27 July 2012 }}</ref> * In April 2014, he created a piece in Cheltenham, near the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) headquarters, which depicts three men wearing sunglasses and using listening devices to "snoop" on a telephone box, evidently criticising the recent global surveillance disclosures of 2013. This was only confirmed by Banksy as his work later in June 2014.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Morris |first1=Steven |title=Banksy confirms he is creator of the 'Spy Booth' wall art near GCHQ |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/10/banksy-creator-spy-booth-wall-art-gchq |access-date=5 October 2015 |work=The Guardian |date=10 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005062209/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/10/banksy-creator-spy-booth-wall-art-gchq |archive-date=5 October 2015 }}</ref> This piece 'disappeared' on 20 August 2016 during renovations to the building it was on, and may have been destroyed.<ref name="abc-surveill-vanish">{{cite news|title=Banksy mural mocking government surveillance vanishes from UK wall |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/banksy-mural-mocking-government-surveillance-vanishes/7774794 |access-date=22 August 2016 |work=ABC News |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=22 August 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823110849/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/banksy-mural-mocking-government-surveillance-vanishes/7774794 |archive-date=23 August 2016 }}</ref> * In October 2014, Ten days before the 2014 Clacton by-election, Banksy painted a mural on a wall in Clacton which showed five grey pigeons holding three placards. They held the words "go back to Africa" "migrants not welcome", and "keep off our worms". They were directed towards a more colourful migratory swallow perched further along the same wire. The mural was removed by Tendring District Council who had received a complaint that "offensive and racist remarks" had appeared on a wall.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/01/banksy-mural-clacton-racist |title=Council removes Banksy artwork after complaints of racism |last=Johnston |first=Chris |date=1 October 2014 |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422110701/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/01/banksy-mural-clacton-racist |url-status=live |archive-date=22 April 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> * In June 2016, a {{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=|order=flip|0}} painting of a child with a stick chasing a burning tyre was found in the Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol with a letter from Banksy thanking the school for naming one of its houses after him. ''BBC News'' reported that a spokesman for Banksy confirmed that the artwork was genuine. In the letter, Banksy wrote that if the members of the school did not like the painting, they should add their own elements.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/banksy-mural-appears-at-primary-school--with-a-letter-from-the-a/ |title=Banksy mural appears at primary school – with a letter from the artist himself |date= 6 June 2016|access-date=6 June 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608015555/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/banksy-mural-appears-at-primary-school--with-a-letter-from-the-a/ |archive-date=8 June 2016 |newspaper=The Telegraph }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-36457647 |title=Banksy paints Bridge Farm Primary Bristol wall as 'present' |work=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcast Corporation |date= 6 June 2016|access-date=6 June 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606114949/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-36457647 |archive-date=6 June 2016 }}</ref> * In May 2017, Banksy claimed the authorship of a giant Brexit mural, painted on a house in Dover (Kent).<ref>{{cite news|last=Walker |title=Banksy claims responsibility for giant Brexit painting in Dover |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/07/banksy-claims-responsibility-giant-brexit-painting-dover |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/07/banksy-claims-responsibility-giant-brexit-painting-dover |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=7 May 2017 |access-date=8 January 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> * Banksy's ''Dream Boat'', originally made for the Dismaland exhibition, was donated to the NGO Help Refugees (now called Choose Love) to help raise funds for the charity. The artwork was displayed in Help Refugees' London Choose Love pop-up shop in the run-up to Christmas 2018, and members of the public could pay £2.00 to enter a competition to guess the weight of the piece. The person with the closest guess would win ''Dream Boat''.<ref>N. Hinde (11 December 2018<!--Per HTML metadata, not 12 November as suggested by the ambiguous date "11/12/18" used on the website. Do not use such date formats on Wikipedia: MOS:DATE-->). [https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/buy-raffle-ticket-for-this-banksy-sculpture-and-choose-love_uk_5c0ff604e4b0ac5371795bb2 "Buy A £2 Raffle Ticket And This Banksy Sculpture Could Be Yours"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212125714/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/buy-raffle-ticket-for-this-banksy-sculpture-and-choose-love_uk_5c0ff604e4b0ac5371795bb2 |date=12 December 2018 }}. ''HuffPost''.</ref> The 'guess-the-weight' competition was seen as 'deliberately school fair' in style.<ref>Katie Baron (22 October 2018). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebaron/2018/12/22/how-choose-love-made-charity-credible-again-pop-up-sales-storm-towards-1-5m-doubling-2017-total/ "How Choose Love Made Charity Credible Again: Pop-Up Sales Storm Towards £1.5m, Doubling 2017 Total"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702092343/https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebaron/2018/12/22/how-choose-love-made-charity-credible-again-pop-up-sales-storm-towards-1-5m-doubling-2017-total/ |date=2 July 2019 }}. ''Forbes''.</ref> * In April 2026, Banksy created a statue at Waterloo Place, depicting a man walking with a large flag draped over his face.<ref name="Foster-2026">{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Aurelia |date=2026-04-30 |title=Banksy confirms he is behind new statue in central London |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y9wlnwl85o |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" class="center"> </gallery>

=== Damaged artwork === {{Main|List of works by Banksy that have been damaged or destroyed}}

Many artworks by Banksy have been vandalised, painted over or destroyed.

In 2008, in Melbourne, paint was poured over a stencil of an old-fashioned diver wearing a trench coat.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |title=Anti-graffiti crew accidentally paints over Banksy art in CBD |work=The Melbourne Leader |date=27 April 2010 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429030922/http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |archive-date=29 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2010, the Melbourne City Council reported that they had inadvertently ordered private contractors to paint over a rat descending in a parachute adorning the wall of an old council building behind the Forum Theatre.

In July 2011, one of Banksy's early works, ''Gorilla in a Pink Mask'', was unwittingly painted over after the premises became a Muslim cultural centre. The art piece had been a prominent landmark on the exterior wall of a former social club in Eastville for over ten years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Whitewashed Banksy restoration 'could cost thousands'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547|access-date=15 July 2011|publisher=BBC|date=15 July 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110720081140/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-14170547| archive-date= 20 July 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bates|first=Stephen|title=Banksy's Gorilla in a Pink Mask is painted over|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over|access-date=15 July 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 July 2011|location=London| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716223702/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/15/banksy-gorilla-mask-painted-over| archive-date= 16 July 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Many works that make up the ''Better Out Than In'' series in New York City have been defaced, some just hours after the piece was unveiled.<ref name=nytimes_welcome>{{cite news|title=Banksy's New York Welcome |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/banksys-new-york-welcome.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=21 October 2013 |date=15 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019061328/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/banksys-new-york-welcome.html |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko |first=Jane |title=Banksy Piece In Queens Defaced By Other Graffiti Artists |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/banksy-destroyed_n_4101145.html |work=HuffPost |access-date=21 October 2013 |date=15 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224015237/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/banksy-destroyed_n_4101145.html |archive-date=24 February 2015 }}</ref> At least one defacement was identified as done by a competing artist, OMAR NYC, who spray-painted over Banksy's red mylar balloon piece in Red Hook.<ref>{{cite news|last=Janeczko |first=Jane |title=Banksy Hater, OMAR NYC, Defaces Art In Red Hook |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/banksy-hater-defaces_n_4065250.html |work=HuffPost |access-date=21 October 2013 |date=8 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013223713/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/banksy-hater-defaces_n_4065250.html |archive-date=13 October 2013 }}</ref> OMAR NYC also defaced some of Banksy's work in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web |last=Turco |first=Bucky |title=Banksy Thoroughly Ragged |url=http://animalnewyork.com/2010/banksy-thoroughly-ragged/ |work=Animal New York |access-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012031237/http://animalnewyork.com/2010/banksy-thoroughly-ragged/ |archive-date=12 October 2013 |date=19 May 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dobkin |first=Jake |title=Banksy Gets Dissed |url=http://gothamist.com/2010/05/18/banksy_gets_dissed.php?#photo-1 |work=Gothamist |access-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010072201/http://gothamist.com/2010/05/18/banksy_gets_dissed.php#photo-1 |archive-date=10 October 2013 |date=19 May 2010 }}</ref>

In the case of the 2013 vandalism of Banksy's ''Praying Boy'' in Park City, Utah, United States,<ref name="Park Rec Vandalism">{{cite news |last= Hamburger |first= Jay |date= 11 January 2014 |title= Banksy vandalism: video surfaces purporting to show Park City attack |url= https://www.parkrecord.com/news/park-city/banksy-vandalism-video-surfaces-purporting-to-show-park-city-attack/ |work= Park Record |location= Park City, Utah |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231122175200/https://www.parkrecord.com/news/park-city/banksy-vandalism-video-surfaces-purporting-to-show-park-city-attack/ |archive-date=2023-11-22}}</ref> the perpetrator was tried, pleaded guilty, and convicted of criminal mischief.<ref>{{cite news |last= Whitehurst |first= Lindsay |date= 17 November 2014 |title= Man who damaged Banksy art in US gets probation |url= https://apnews.com/article/e17b3ee7e54f4754bccd9781e3c86bfc |work= Associated Press |location= New York |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231122171615/https://apnews.com/article/e17b3ee7e54f4754bccd9781e3c86bfc |archive-date=2023-11-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Hamburger |first= Jay |date= Nov 19, 2014 |title= Banksy vandal, apologetic, ordered to pay for damage in Park City |url= https://www.parkrecord.com/news/park-city/banksy-vandal-apologetic-ordered-to-pay-for-damage-in-park-city/ |work= Park Record |location= Park City, Utah |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230525143745/https://www.parkrecord.com/news/park-city/banksy-vandal-apologetic-ordered-to-pay-for-damage-in-park-city/ |archive-date=2023-05-25}}</ref> The artwork was restored to its original state by a painting conservator, who was hired by the owners of the building where ''Praying Boy'' is located.<ref name="Park Rec Restored">{{cite news |last= Hamburger |first= Jay |date= 2 April 2014 |title= Banksy piece in Park City, vandal's target, painstakingly restored |url= https://www.parkrecord.com/news/banksy-piece-in-park-city-vandals-target-painstakingly-restored/ |work= Park Record |location= Park City, Utah |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231122172230/https://www.parkrecord.com/news/banksy-piece-in-park-city-vandals-target-painstakingly-restored/ |archive-date=2023-11-22}}</ref>

== Technique == Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in the stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photographic quality of much of his work. He mentions in his book ''Wall and Piece'' that, as he was starting to do graffiti, he was always either caught or could never finish the art in one sitting. He claims he changed to stencilling while hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stencilled serial number. He then devised a series of intricate stencils for minimising time and overlapping of the colour.

In a 2003 interview, Banksy described his technique, when making a piece in a public area, as "quick" and "I want to get it done and dusted."<ref name="BBC Nanji"/>

A debate about the influence behind his work exists. Some critics claim Banksy was influenced by musician and graffiti artist 3D. Another source credits the artist's work to resemble that of French graffiti artist Blek le Rat. It is said that Banksy was inspired by their use of stencils, later taking this visual style and transforming it through modern political and social pieces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/27050301|title=Road sign believed to be a Banksy has vanished|date=13 August 2018|website=BBC Newsround|access-date=14 November 2018|archive-date=1 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201233040/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/27050301|url-status=live}}</ref>

Banksy's stencils feature striking and humorous images occasionally combined with slogans. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. Subjects often include rats, apes, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.

In the broader art world, stencils are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. This technique allows artists to paint quickly to protect their anonymity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy – Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search |url=https://www.phillips.com/detail/banksy/NY010323/13 |website=Phillips |access-date=16 July 2024 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716203651/https://www.phillips.com/detail/banksy/NY010323/13 |url-status=live }}</ref> There is dispute in the street art world over the legitimacy of stencils, with many artists criticising their use as "cheating".<ref>{{cite web |author1=Frederick Gentis |title=Banksy's identity may be uncovered by looking at what inspired him |url=https://www.gallerease.com/en/magazine/articles/banksys-identity-may-be-uncovered-by-looking-at-what-inspired-him-53bbdb606e92__53bbdb606e92 |website=Gallerease |access-date=16 July 2024 |date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716203652/https://www.gallerease.com/en/magazine/articles/banksys-identity-may-be-uncovered-by-looking-at-what-inspired-him-53bbdb606e92__53bbdb606e92 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Naomi DeSouza |title=Graffiti artist mistaken for Brum 'Banksy' is factory worker with 'busy family life' |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/graffiti-artist-mistaken-brum-banksy-24072547 |website=Birmingham Live |access-date=16 July 2024 |date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716203651/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/graffiti-artist-mistaken-brum-banksy-24072547 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, Banksy created a piece live as it was being auctioned at Sotheby's. The piece originally consisted of a framed painting of ''Girl with Balloon''. While the bidding was in progress, a shredder was activated from within the frame, partially destroying the painting, and thus creating a new piece. The shredder had been pre-emptively built into the frame a few years prior in case the painting was put up for auction.<ref>{{cite news |last= Preuss |first= Andreas |author=<!--not stated--> |date= 7 October 2018 |title= Banksy painting 'self-destructs' moments after being sold for $1.4 million at auction |url= https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-painting-self-destructs-auction-trnd/index.html |work= CNN |location= United States |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230522002914/https://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-painting-self-destructs-auction-trnd/index.html |archive-date=2023-05-22}}</ref> The new artwork, consisting of the half-shredded painting still in its frame, is titled ''Love Is in the Bin''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date= 14 October 2021 |title= Banksy's Love is in the Bin sells for record £16m |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58908768 |work= BBC |location= London |access-date= 22 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230930084451/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58908768 |archive-date=2023-09-30}}</ref>

In 2025, the ''BBC'' unearthed previously unseen Banksy murals that differ in their execution from the well-known stencil style of graffiti for which the artist is commonly known. The murals, created for a youth club in the artist's home city, are examples of the early technique of the artist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mackintosh |first1=Thomas |title=New Banksy mural appears at Royal Courts of Justice |date=8 September 2025 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrq0r0y878o |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 September 2025 |archive-date=8 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908113559/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrq0r0y878o |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Banksy Art: A history |url=https://guyhepner.com/artists/32-banksy |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Guy Hepner |language=en |archive-date=15 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250215214443/https://guyhepner.com/artists/32-banksy |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Political and social themes == {{Anti-consumerism |People}} Banksy once characterised graffiti as a form of underclass "revenge", or guerrilla warfare that allows an individual to snatch away power, territory and glory from a bigger and better equipped enemy.<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy sees a social class component to this struggle, remarking "If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead."<ref name = "HPBanksy" /> Banksy's work has also shown a desire to mock centralised power, hoping that their work will show the public that although power does exist and works against people, that power is not terribly efficient and it can and should be deceived.<ref name = "HPBanksy" />

Banksy's works have dealt with various political and social themes, including anti-war, anti-consumerism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism. Additionally, the components of the human condition that his works commonly critique are greed, poverty, hypocrisy, boredom, despair, absurdity, and alienation.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jonathon |last=Keats |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2012/08/03/why-banksy-deserves-an-olympic-gold-more-than-usain-bolt/ |title=Why Banksy Deserves An Olympic Gold More Than Usain Bolt|magazine=Forbes |date=3 August 2012 |access-date=1 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207040214/http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2012/08/03/why-banksy-deserves-an-olympic-gold-more-than-usain-bolt/ |archive-date=7 February 2013 }}</ref> Although Banksy's works usually rely on visual imagery and iconography to put forth their message, Banksy has made several politically related comments in various books. In summarising his list of "people who should be shot", he listed "Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, (and) people who write lists telling you who should be shot."<ref>''Wall and Piece'', by Banksy, 2006, Century, {{ISBN|1-84413-787-2}}, p. 110</ref> While facetiously describing his political nature, Banksy declared that "Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world, I can't even finish my second apple pie."<ref>Banksy (2006), ''Wall and Piece'', Century, {{ISBN|1-84413-787-2}}, p. 155</ref>

Banksy's work has also critiqued the environmental impacts of big businesses. When speaking about his 2005 work ''Show me the Monet'', Banksy explained:

{{blockquote|The vandalised paintings reflect life as it is now. We don't live in a world like Constable's Haywain anymore and, if you do, there is probably a travellers' camp on the other side of the hill. The real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business... exactly the people who put gold-framed pictures of landscapes on their walls and try to tell the rest of us how to behave.<ref name="Sotheby's">{{Cite web|title=Show Me The Monet|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/contemporary-art-evening-auction-2/banksy-show-me-the-monet|access-date=23 May 2021|website=Sotheby's|archive-date=19 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119170236/https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/contemporary-art-evening-auction-2/banksy-show-me-the-monet|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

''Show me the Monet'' repurposes Claude Monet's ''Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies'', with the inclusion of two shopping carts and an orange traffic cone. This painting was later sold for £7.5&nbsp;million at Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction in 2020.<ref name="Sotheby's" />

During the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Banksy offered voters a free print if they cast a ballot against the Conservative candidates standing in the Bristol North West, Bristol West, North Somerset, Thornbury, Kingswood and Filton constituencies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy makes election print-for-vote offer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40146544 |work=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604063123/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40146544 |archive-date=4 June 2017 }}</ref> According to a note posted on Banksy's website, an emailed photo of a completed ballot paper showing it marked for a candidate other than the Conservative candidate would result in the voter being mailed a limited edition piece of Banksy art. On 5 June 2017 the Avon and Somerset Constabulary announced it had opened an investigation into Banksy for the suspected corrupt practice of bribery,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/15329481.BREAKING__Police_investigate_Banksy_offer_for_possible_election_fraud/ |title= Police investigate Banksy offer for possible election fraud |date= 5 June 2017 |access-date=5 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605205118/http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/15329481.BREAKING__Police_investigate_Banksy_offer_for_possible_election_fraud/ |archive-date=5 June 2017 }}</ref> and the following day Banksy withdrew the offer stating "I have been warned by the Electoral Commission that the free print offer will invalidate the election result. So I regret to announce that this ill-conceived and legally dubious promotion has now been cancelled."<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Connor |first1=Roisin |title=Banksy cancels General Election print giveaway after police launch investigation |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-general-election-print-giveaway-tory-party-police-investigation-artist-theresa-may-a7774801.html |website=The Independent |access-date=6 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622133206/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-general-election-print-giveaway-tory-party-police-investigation-artist-theresa-may-a7774801.html |archive-date=22 June 2017 }}</ref>

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Banksy referenced medical advice to self-isolate by creating an artwork in his bathroom.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/banksy-bathroom-art-coronavirus-lockdown-united-kingdom/12156326|title=Banksy follows stay-at-home orders and makes bathroom art during coronavirus crisis|date=17 April 2020|work=ABC News|access-date=17 April 2020|archive-date=20 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420195925/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/banksy-bathroom-art-coronavirus-lockdown-united-kingdom/12156326|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Philanthropy and activism== Banksy has donated a number of works to promote various causes, such as ''Civilian Drone Strike'', which was sold in 2017 at £205,000 to raise funds for Campaign Against Arms Trade and Reprieve. It was part of the exhibition "Art the Arms Fair" set up in opposition to the DSEI arms fair.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-civilian-drone-strike-piece-raises-200k-for-antiarms-campaign-groups-a3636731.html |title=Banksy 'Civilian Drone Strike' piece raises £200k for anti-arms campaign groups |first=Chloe |last=Chaplin |date=17 September 2017 |work=London Evening Standard |access-date=29 August 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416100418/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksy-civilian-drone-strike-piece-raises-200k-for-antiarms-campaign-groups-a3636731.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, a sculpture titled ''Dream Boat'', which was exhibited in Dismaland in 2015, was raffled off in aid of the NGO Help Refugees (now called Choose Love) for a minimum donation of £2 for every guesses of its weight in a pop-up Choose Love shop in Carnaby Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/banksy-sculpture-raffle-1408612 |title=Banksy Is Raffling Off a Refugee Sculpture for Only $2.50, If You Can Correctly Guess Its Weight |first=Naomi |last=Rea |date=3 December 2018 |work=Artnet |access-date=29 August 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828031214/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/banksy-sculpture-raffle-1408612 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, he produced artwork for the Greenpeace campaign Save or Delete. He also provided works to support local causes; in 2013, a work titled ''The Banality of the Banality of Evil'' was sold for an undisclosed amount after a failed auction to support an anti-homelessness charity in New York.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/09/banksy-new-york-auction-housing-works |title=Mystery surrounds collapse of Banksy sale to benefit Housing Works charity |first=Richard |last=Luscombe |date=9 November 2013 |work=The Guardian |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827182319/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/09/banksy-new-york-auction-housing-works |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, an artwork on a doorway titled ''Mobile Lovers'' was sold £403,000 to keep a youth club in Bristol open,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-27319114 |title=Banksy has say over disputed Mobile Lovers artwork |date=7 May 2014 |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007192538/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-27319114 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-mobile-lovers-sold-owner-of-youth-club-where-artwork-appeared-in-bristol-received-death-9695327.html |title=Banksy's Mobile Lovers: Youth club owner who sold artwork in Bristol receives death threats |first=Kashmira |last=Gander |date=27 August 2014 |work=The Independent |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=13 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013132621/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-mobile-lovers-sold-owner-of-youth-club-where-artwork-appeared-in-bristol-received-death-9695327.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and he created merchandise for homeless charities in Bristol in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2019/12/10/news/banksy-to-raise-money-for-homeless-charities-after-latest-artwork-1787198/ |title=Banksy to raise money for homeless charities |date=10 December 2019 |work=Irish News |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=19 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619161523/https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2019/12/10/news/banksy-to-raise-money-for-homeless-charities-after-latest-artwork-1787198/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Banksy has been producing a number of works and projects in support of the Palestinians since the mid-2000s, including The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/palestine-banksy-art-creates-a-new-model-of-resistance-1.68658795 |title=Palestine: Banksy art creates a new model of resistance |date=25 December 2019 |work=Gulf News |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=12 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312191714/https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/palestine-banksy-art-creates-a-new-model-of-resistance-1.68658795 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/11/12/banksy-pro-palestine-artwork-sparks-spat-with-israeli-art-collector |title=New Banksy pro-Palestine artwork sparks spat with Israeli art collector |work=The New Arab |date=12 November 2018 |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926212600/https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/11/12/banksy-pro-palestine-artwork-sparks-spat-with-israeli-art-collector |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-41840466 |title=New Banksy work unveiled at 'apology' party for Palestinians |publisher=BBC |date=2 November 2017 |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=27 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827191018/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-41840466 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-40809266 |title=New Banksy work unveiled at 'apology' party for Palestinians |publisher=BBC |date=2 November 2017 |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109003512/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-40809266 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2020, Banksy sold three paintings forming a triptych titled ''Mediterranean Sea View 2017'', which raised £2.2&nbsp;million for a hospital in Bethlehem. The paintings were originally created for The Walled Off Hotel, and are Romantic-era paintings of the seashore that have been modified with images of lifebuoys and orange life jackets washed up on the shore, a reference to the European migrant crisis.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53564953 |title=Banksy auctions refugee paintings for £2.2m to aid Bethlehem hospital |date=28 July 2020 |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 August 2020 |archive-date=15 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915073700/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53564953 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Banksy gifted a painting titled ''Game Changer'' to a hospital in May 2020 as a tribute to National Health Service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/banksy-southampton-general-hospital-game-changer-1202686284/ |title=Banksy Donates New Artwork Celebrating Health Care Workers to British Hospital |first=Tessa |last=Solomon |date=7 May 2020 |work=ARTnews |access-date=30 August 2020 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919224849/https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/banksy-southampton-general-hospital-game-changer-1202686284/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was later sold for £14.4m in March 2021 to benefit a number of NHS-related organisations and charities.<ref name="game changer"/>

In August 2020, it was revealed that Banksy had privately funded a rescue boat to save refugees at risk in the Mediterranean Sea. The former French Navy boat, renamed after Louise Michel, has been painted pink with an image of a young girl holding a heart-shaped safety float.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-53949831 |title=Banksy funds boat to rescue refugees at sea |date=28 August 2020 |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 August 2020 |archive-date=29 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829000826/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-53949831 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Identity ==

Banksy has not confirmed his name and identity publicly.<ref name="Gardner 2026">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-art-banksy/|title=In Search of Banksy|date=2026-03-13 |access-date=2026-03-13|last=Gardner|first=Simon|work=Reuters|last2=Pearson|first2=James|first3=Blake|last3=Morrison}}</ref> In a 2003 interview with Simon Hattenstone of ''The Guardian'', Banksy was described as "white, 28, scruffy casual—jeans, T-shirt, a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring. He looks like a cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of The Streets."<ref name="spray" /> An ''ITV News'' segment of 2003 featured a short interview with someone identified in the reporting as Banksy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 October 2022 |title=Is this Banksy? Forgotten interview with elusive graffiti artist uncovered from ITV tape vaults |url=https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2019-07-04/is-this-banksy-forgotten-interview-with-elusive-graffiti-artist-uncovered-from-itv-tape-vaults |url-status=live |access-date=14 March 2024 |work=ITV News |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314054204/https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2019-07-04/is-this-banksy-forgotten-interview-with-elusive-graffiti-artist-uncovered-from-itv-tape-vaults }}</ref> Banksy began as an artist at the age of 14, was expelled from school, and served time in prison for petty crime. According to Hattenstone, "anonymity is vital to him because graffiti is illegal".<ref name="spray">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/jul/17/art.artsfeatures|title=Something to spray|last=Hattenstone|first=Simon|date=17 July 2003|work=The Guardian|access-date=29 January 2018|location=UK|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130013652/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/jul/17/art.artsfeatures|url-status=live}}</ref> Banksy reportedly lived in Easton, Bristol, during the late 1990s, before moving to London around 2000.<ref name="birthdate2" /><ref>''The Daily Telegraph'', Property section, London, 7 July 2018, p. 5.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-08/scientists-map-banksy-art-in-bid-to-find-artists-true-identity/7228052|title=Banksy: Map profiling backs theory that graffiti artist is Robin Gunningham|website=ABC News (Australia)|date=7 March 2016|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712162947/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-08/scientists-map-banksy-art-in-bid-to-find-artists-true-identity/7228052|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Robin Gunningham === In 2008, the British tabloid ''The Mail on Sunday'' reported that Banksy is likely a man named Robin Gunningham, based on several of the artist's most famous works appearing near his London residence in the 2000s.<ref name="tagging_banksy_paper">{{cite journal|last1=Hauge|first1=Michelle V.|last2=Stevenson|first2=Mark D.|last3=Rossmo|first3=D. Kim|last4=Le Comber|first4=Steven|date=3 March 2016|title=Tagging Banksy: using geographic profiling to investigate a modern art mystery|journal=Journal of Spatial Science|volume=61|issue=1|pages=185–190|doi=10.1080/14498596.2016.1138246|bibcode=2016JSpSc..61..185H|s2cid=130859901|url=http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12473|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111539/https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12473|url-status=live| issn = 1449-8596}}</ref>{{R|Gardner 2026}} In 2016, a study by researchers at the Queen Mary University of London using geographic profiling found that the incidence of Banksy's works correlated with the known movements of Gunningham,<ref name="tagging_banksy_independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-geographic-profiling-proves-artist-really-is-robin-gunningham-according-to-scientists-a6909896.html|title=Banksy: Geographic profiling 'proves' artist really is Robin Gunningham, according to scientists|last1=Sherwin|first1=Adam|date=3 March 2016|work=Independent|access-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052043/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-geographic-profiling-proves-artist-really-is-robin-gunningham-according-to-scientists-a6909896.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tagging_banksy_paper">{{cite journal|last1=Hauge|first1=Michelle V.|last2=Stevenson|first2=Mark D.|last3=Rossmo|first3=D. Kim|last4=Le Comber|first4=Steven|date=3 March 2016|title=Tagging Banksy: using geographic profiling to investigate a modern art mystery|journal=Journal of Spatial Science|volume=61|issue=1|pages=185–190|doi=10.1080/14498596.2016.1138246|bibcode=2016JSpSc..61..185H|s2cid=130859901|url=http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12473|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111539/https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12473|url-status=live| issn = 1449-8596}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24464663 "Banksy 'may abandon commercial art'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303003519/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24464663|date=3 March 2015}}. BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">[https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/apr/20/observer-profile-banksy-street-art "Banksy: the artist who's driven to the wall"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826004247/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/apr/20/observer-profile-banksy-street-art|date=26 August 2016}}. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015</ref> who was born on 28 July 1974 in Yate, a town northeast of Bristol.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02651/Southwest_England_2651416a.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129100919/http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02651/Southwest_England_2651416a.pdf|archive-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|publisher=Lonely Planet|title=Great Britain: Southwest England |edition=10th|date=2013|page=282}}</ref><ref name="birthdate">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/14/banksy-bristol-city-museum-exhibition|last=Adams|first=Tim|title=Banksy: The graffitist goes straight|newspaper=The Observer|date=14 June 2009|location=London|access-date=29 July 2018|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033501/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/14/banksy-bristol-city-museum-exhibition|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="birthdate2">{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secret-life-of-the-real-banksy-robin-gunningham|last=Hines|first=Nico|title=The Secret Life of the Real Banksy, Robin Gunningham|date=11 March 2016|access-date=24 July 2018|newspaper=The Daily Beast|archive-date=25 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925115426/http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secret-life-of-the-real-banksy-robin-gunningham|url-status=live}}</ref> Several of Gunningham's associates and former schoolmates at Bristol Cathedral School have corroborated this.

A 2026 ''Reuters'' investigation also identified the artist as Gunningham, based on evidence including a signed confession after his arrest in 2000 for vandalising a billboard in New York. The vandalised billboard and arrest had previously been attributed to Banksy by his close associate Steve Lazarides. The investigation stated that, in 2008, he had changed his legal name to David Jones, but that it was unclear if he has kept the name. Banksy's lawyer stated to Reuters that Banksy "does not accept that many of the details contained within your enquiry are correct".{{R|Gardner 2026}}

According to ''The Sunday Times'', Gunningham began employing the name Robin Banks, which eventually became Banksy. Two cassette sleeves featuring Banksy's artwork from 1993 for the Bristol band ''Mother Samosa'' exist with Gunningham's signature.<ref name="gillespie-20180805">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/art/article/signed-banksy-album-artworks-go-up-forsale-xsj23zz2j|title=Signed Banksy album artworks go up for sale|last=Gillespie|first=James|date=5 August 2018|website=The Sunday Times|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=2 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502072405/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/signed-banksy-album-artworks-go-up-forsale-xsj23zz2j|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2017, DJ Goldie referred to Banksy as "Rob" in an interview for a podcast.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40379603|title=Did Goldie just reveal who Banksy is?|date=23 June 2017|access-date=24 July 2018|work=BBC News|archive-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011051716/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40379603|url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview with the ''BBC'' in 2003, which was rediscovered in November 2023, reporter Nigel Wrench asked if Banksy is called Robert Banks; Banksy responded that his forename is Robbie.<ref name="BBC Nanji">{{cite news |last=Nanji |first=Noor |date=21 November 2023 |title=Banksy: Street artist confirms first name in lost BBC interview |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67449087 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121203154/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67449087 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |access-date=21 November 2023|work=BBC News|language=en-UK|location=UK}}</ref>

=== Other potential identities === Other speculations about Banksy's identity include the following: * Robert Del Naja (also known as 3D), a member of the trip hop band Massive Attack, had been a graffiti artist during the 1980s prior to forming the band, and was previously identified as a friend of Banksy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/4477257/banksy-robert-del-naja-massive-attack/|title=Is Banksy Actually Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja?|last1=Jenkins|first1=Nash|magazine=Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904030133/http://time.com/4477257/banksy-robert-del-naja-massive-attack/|archive-date=4 September 2016|url-status=live|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/banksy-robert-del-naja-identity-theory/|title=Is Banksy actually a member of Massive Attack?|last1=Jaworski|first1=Michael|date=2 September 2016|website=The Daily Dot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903175804/http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/banksy-robert-del-naja-identity-theory/|archive-date=3 September 2016|url-status=live|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> The 2026 ''Reuters'' investigation found that del Naja has been a "painting partner" of Banksy.{{R|Gardner 2026}} * In 2020, users on Twitter began to speculate that former ''Art Attack'' presenter Neil Buchanan was Banksy. This was denied by Buchanan's publicist.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54061948|title=Neil Buchanan: Former Art Attack host denies Banksy rumours|date=7 September 2020|work=BBC News|access-date=8 September 2020|archive-date=7 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907211226/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54061948|url-status=live}}</ref> * In 2022, Billy Gannon, a local councillor in Pembroke Dock in South West Wales, was rumoured to be Banksy. He resigned because the speculation was affecting his ability to carry out the duties of a councillor. "I'm being asked to prove who I am not, and the person that I am not may not exist," he said. "I mean, how am I supposed to prove that I'm not somebody who doesn't exist? Just how do you do that?"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-27 |title=Mr Banksy, I presume: the councillor who quit over claims he has a secret |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/may/27/banksy-rumours-wales-councillor-billy-gannon-quit |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527184222/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/may/27/banksy-rumours-wales-councillor-billy-gannon-quit |url-status=live }}</ref> * Several artists have created work which uses similar techniques to Banksy's. Often these get mistaken in the press leading to misattribution. Examples can be seen in the work of artists John D'oh and Silent Bill, who have re-produced similar versions to Banksy's work in the past,<ref>{{cite web |title='Bill or Banksy' Did a Fake Really Sell for £250k on a TV Show Auction? |url=https://inspiringcity.com/2023/07/28/bill-or-banksy-did-a-fake-really-sell-for-250k-on-a-tv-show-auction/ |website=Inspiring City |date=2023-07-28 |access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-date=29 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250729063718/https://inspiringcity.com/2023/07/28/bill-or-banksy-did-a-fake-really-sell-for-250k-on-a-tv-show-auction/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and in the work of DNZ, whose single-layer stencil murals are often confused with Banksy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Three absolutely stunning Banksy-style murals appear in Rhyl |url=https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/three-absolutely-stunning-banksy-style-30787068 |website=Daily Post |date=2025-07-22 |access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-date=21 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121155922/https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/three-absolutely-stunning-banksy-style-30787068 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy-style mural appears on wall near Rhyl lifeboat station |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64152461.amp |website=BBC News |date=2022-12-20 |access-date=2025-09-29 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429212747/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64152461.amp |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Banksy-style mural vanishes within hours of appearing in Rhyl |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/bansky-style-mural-vanishes-within-30804922 |website=WalesOnline |date=2025-08-01 |access-date=2025-09-29 |archive-date=27 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127180520/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/bansky-style-mural-vanishes-within-30804922 |url-status=live }}</ref> * In October 2014, an internet hoax circulated claiming that Banksy had been arrested and his identity revealed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Ella |date=20 October 2014 |title=Banksy not arrested: Internet duped by fake report claiming artist's identity revealed |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-arrest-hoax-internet-duped-fake-report-claiming-street-artist-s-identity-has-been-revealed-9806157.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |access-date=1 May 2020 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112025514/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-arrest-hoax-internet-duped-fake-report-claiming-street-artist-s-identity-has-been-revealed-9806157.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Books == Banksy has published several books that contain photographs of his work accompanied by his own writings: * ''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'' (2001). {{ISBN|978-0-9541704-0-0}}. * ''Existencilism'' (2002). {{ISBN|978-0-9541704-1-7}}. * ''Cut It Out'' (2004). {{ISBN|978-0-9544960-0-5}}. * ''Pictures of Walls'' (2005). {{ISBN|978-0-9551946-0-3}}. * ''Wall and Piece'' (2007). {{ISBN|978-1-84413-786-2}}. * ''You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat and if You Were Not You Would Know It'' (2012)<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of Banksy Books – A Buyer's Guide 2024 |url=https://alxandrws.com/list-of-banksy-books-a-buyers-guide/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=AlxAndrws |language=en-GB |archive-date=9 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209104203/https://alxandrws.com/list-of-banksy-books-a-buyers-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall'', ''Existencilism'', and ''Cut It Out'' were a three-part self-published series of small booklets.<ref>[https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Weapons_of_Mass_Distraction Publisher: Weapons of Mass Distraction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024113239/https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Weapons_of_Mass_Distraction |date=24 October 2018 }}, Open Library. Retrieved 24 October 2018</ref>

''Pictures of Walls'' is a compilation book of pictures of the work of other graffiti artists, curated and self-published by Banksy. None of them are still in print, or were ever printed in any significant number.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pictures of walls : around the world in eighty sprays.|date=2005|publisher=Pictures of Walls (POW)|isbn=978-0955194603|location=London|oclc=682533140}}</ref>

Banksy's ''Wall and Piece'' compiled large parts of the images and writings in his original three-book series, with heavy editing and some new material.<ref name="Banksy-2007">{{Cite book|title=Wall and Piece|last=Banksy|date=2007|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1844137862|location=London|oclc=62531942}}</ref> It was intended for mass print, and published by Random House.<ref name="Banksy-2007" />

The writings in his original three books had numerous grammatical errors, and his writings in them often took a dark, and angry, and a (self-described) paranoid tone.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Banging your head against a brick wall|last=Banksy|date=2001|publisher=Weapons of Mass Disruption|isbn=978-0954170400|location=UK|oclc=51183909}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Existencilism|last=Banksy|date=2002|publisher=Weapons of Mass Distraction|isbn=978-0954170417|location=UK|oclc=51183910}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Cut it out|last=Banksy|date=2004|publisher=Banksy|isbn=978-0954496005|location=UK|oclc=61519372|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cutitout00bank}}</ref> While the content in them was almost entirely kept in ''Wall and Piece'', the stories were edited and generally took a less provocative tone, and the grammatical errors were resolved (presumably to make it suitable for mass market distribution).<ref name="Banksy-2007" />

== See also == {{portal|Biography|Visual arts}} * List of urban artists * Street installation * Brandalism

== References == {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{Cite book|editor1-first=Mirko|editor1-last=Reisser|editor1-link=Mirko Reisser|editor2-first=Gerrit|editor2-last=Peters|editor3-first=Heiko|editor3-last=Zahlmann|title=Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|series=Urban Discipline: Graffiti-Art|volume=3|edition=1st|page=144|language=de|publisher=getting-up|location=Hamburg (Germany)|year=2002|isbn=978-3-00-009421-7|url={{Google books|Kv6zGfMIIP8C|Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art|page=|plainurl=yes}}|ref=none}} * {{Cite book |title=Banksy's Bristol: home sweet home ; the unofficial guide |date=2008 |publisher=Tangent Books |isbn=978-1-906477-00-4 |editor-last=Banksy |edition=2. reprint |location=Bristol |editor-last2=Wright |editor-first2=Steve}} * Martin Bull, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vfnk4ROcGIEC ''Banksy Locations and Tours: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs in London'']{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (2006&nbsp;– with new editions in 2007, 2008 and 2010), {{ISBN|978-0-9554712-4-7}}. * {{Cite book |last=Blanché |first=Ulrich |title=Something to s(pr)ay: Der Street Artivist Banksy: eine kunstwissenschaftliche Untersuchung |date=2013 |publisher=Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag |isbn=978-3-8288-2283-2 |edition=1. Auflage |location=Marburg}} * {{Cite book |last1=Ellsworth-Jones |first1=Will |title=Banksy: the man behind the wall |last2=Banksy |date=2012 |publisher=Aurum |isbn=978-1-84513-699-4 |location=London}} * {{Cite book |title=Banksy: the Bristol legacy |date=2012 |publisher=Redcliffe |isbn=978-1-906593-96-4 |editor-last=Gough |editor-first=Paul |location=Bristol}} * {{Cite book |title=Banksy: you are an acceptable level of threat and if you were not, you would know about it |date=2013 |publisher=Carpet Bombing Culture |isbn=978-1-908211-08-8 |editor-last=Banksy |edition=4. |location=Darlington |editor-last2=Shove |editor-first2=Gary |editor-last3=Potter |editor-first3=Patrick}} * {{Cite book|last=Stallabrass|first= J.|title=Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=OUP Oxford|year=2020|isbn=9780192561282|location=United Kingdom<!--|page=153-->}} * {{Cite book|last=Dery|first=Mark|title=Culture Jamming: Activism and the Art of Cultural Resistance|publisher=NYU Press|year=2017|isbn=9781479879724|location=United States<!--|page=226-->}}

== External links == {{sister project links|d=Q133600|c=category:Banksy|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|mw=no|m=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}} {{Prone to spam|date=February 2015}} <!-- {{No more links}}

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'''Official websites:''' * {{Official website}} * [https://pestcontroloffice.com Pest Control]&nbsp;– official Banksy authentication service and only current official dealer of original Banksy works * {{instagram|banksy}} * {{YouTube|h=banksyfilm}}

'''Slideshows and galleries:''' * {{Cite web |date=2019-01-02 |title=Banksy – art of the state archive |url=https://www.artofthestate.co.uk/archive/banksy-2/banksy/ |access-date=2025-08-15 |language=en-GB}} * {{Cite news |title=Banksy |url=https://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/?rb=1 |access-date=2025-08-15 |work=Flickr |language=en-us}} * {{Cite web |last=BBC |title=BBC – London – In Pictures – Banksy Gallery |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/banksy_gallery.shtml |access-date=2025-08-15 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-gb}} * {{Cite news |date=2009-06-12 |title=In pictures: Banksy's Bristol show |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8096000/8096891.stm |access-date=2025-08-15 |language=en-GB}} * {{Cite web |title=Banksy Stencils on Resuable Mylar – Graffiti Stencils of Banksy Art |url=https://www.stencilrevolution.com/collections/banksy-stencils |access-date=2025-08-15 |website=Stencil Revolution |language=en}}

'''News items''' * [http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=760586 "Police thwart attempt to steal Bethlehem Banksy mural", Ma'an News Agency, April 21, 2015]{{Dead link|date=August 2025}} * {{Cite web |title=The Story Behind Banksy |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-story-behind-banksy-4310304/ |access-date=2025-08-15 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}

{{Banksy|state=expanded}} {{Culture in Bristol}} {{Culture jamming}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banksy}} Category:Banksy Category:Living people Category:1970s births Category:20th-century English painters Category:21st-century English painters Category:Album-cover and concert-poster artists Category:Anti-consumerists Category:British political artists Category:Counterculture of the 2000s Category:Counterculture of the 2010s Category:Counterculture of the 2020s Category:Culture jamming Category:English activists Category:English contemporary artists Category:English film directors Category:English male painters Category:English satirists Category:Guerrilla artists Category:Pseudonymous artists Category:Satirical painters Category:Unidentified British people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)