Bansky: Resonant Messages

Bansky - Love Rat - Street Art - LiverpoolBanksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, the artist’s satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti using a distinctive stenciling technique. 

Whether Banksy is one person, or a group of people we don't know for sure. But it is a fact that he (she, or it) has created some of the most powerful, controversial, witty, and brilliant contemporary art.

On May 21, 2007 Banksy was selected to receive an award for Greatest Living Briton, credited with transforming graffiti from the typical "bubble writing" style of the 1980s to the "narrative-driven street art" of today. 

The work featured here is Banksy's signature rat image, which acts as a self-portrait of the devious, nocturnally active artist. Love Rat first appeared as a mural on the streets of Liverpool, before being reproduced in 2004 as a highly sought after limited edition of just 150 signed and 600 unsigned prints. It certainly suggests a more positive characterization of rats than is typically associated with them.

Bansky’s “art has sold for extremely high prices at auction, with pieces being purchased by collectors and celebrities alike for millions of dollars, making Banksy one of the first street artists to become part of the commercial art market. However, this commercial success troubles the artist, who says that "Commercial success is a mark of failure for a graffiti artist," and "We're not supposed to be embraced in that way.” (The ArtStory)