Banksy in his own words

can't wait to see 'exit through the gift shop'

Banksy in his own words
Bristol-born Banksy is hugely popular worldwide, his guerilla-style graffiti his calling card. Yet for 18 years he has succeeded where The Stig failed - and kept his identity totally secret.

Who is he? That's the question on the lips of everyone from trendy youngsters to the snobbish art world elite.

Explaining where it all began, Banksy says: "You're 14, 15. It's a big world out there, you wanna make your mark, and no one listens to a word you say. Whereas, yer know, one night, one spray can, all of a sudden people notice you. There was always a lot of graffiti in my home town growing up, urmm, I think 3D from Massive Attack had brought it back with him off tour in America and he'd been painting all over the city."

The works that catapulted Banksy into the spotlight almost all involved black and white stencil drawings, such as the iconic image of two policemen snogging.

"I mean they're very efficient, stencils. You get to put something up in very little time and it's hard to mess it up.

"When I moved to London I just carried on painting. I never saw that there was anything bad in it.

"You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something.

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