BANKSY: ThE ANTI-fAMOuS STREET ARTIST

Withus Oragainstus, Banksy’s anti-war beetle specimen  was slipped into the collection of the New York Museum of Natural  History, New York City, March 2005

You Have Beautiful Eyes, The Metropolitan Museum of  Art, New York City, March 2005


Banksy is one such artist who has become an anonymous sensation. A British
street artist who began his career in the late 1980s, he is a fine artist as well as a
master at stenciled creations. His work has sold at auction for hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars, and his 2010 film Exit Through the Gift Shop (billed as “the world’s
first street art disaster movie”), was nominated for best documentary at the 2011
Academy Awards. In March 2005, Banksy disguised himself and slipped into
four major museums in New York City (Figures 3.19 and 3.20) to insert his work
alongside fine art and natural history artifacts complete with ornate frames, name
plaques, and explanations of work. Banksy says, “They’re good enough to be in
there, so I don’t see why I should wait.” Some were removed shortly after being
installed, and some weren’t discovered for several days.