First and foremost, Banksy isn't a Londoner, but then 60% of people in London come from somewhere else too - so no biggie. A significant number of his pieces however, have appeared on or around the streets of London.

If you've not heard of him, which will be relatively few - he's a graffiti artist who's managed to stencil his way across the world. His nine works on the wall encircling the Israeli West Bank took some almighty cajones. The Israeli Army are not noted for their quick and ready sense of humour. Apart from the bone-dry satire of his work and his ability to reduce a biting statement into a simple image. It's his lack of identity which was kept him on the traditional medias' radar. It's also worth mentioning that any attempt to classify or explain his motives, would and should be laughed off. There's nothing to understand and no 'big picture'. This article is merely pocket-info with some photos, to give a flavour and background to his art. There are also links below to a Google map of Banksy works still visible in London and the extensive Flickr group that keeps tabs on his pieces.

Banksy was born ("probably") in Bristol and his work was influenced by Parisian stenciller Blek le Rat and the band Crass, who undertook a stencil campaign on the Tube in the 70s and 80s. In the early 1990s he was part of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew and turned to stencilling to decrease his exposure time. He came up with the idea while hiding from the law under a dumper truck and read its stencilled number underneath. "I got home at last and crawled into bed next to my girlfriend. I told her I'd had an epiphany that night and she told me to stop taking that drug 'cos it's bad for your heart." (Banksy - from his book "Wall and Piece").

Fêted by Hollywood collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera - his first L.A exhibition was entitled "Existencilism" at the 33 1/3 gallery. Aguilera was drawn to the lesbian portrait of Queen Victoria straddling a young woman, though she still manages to look distinctly unamused.

In 2004 Banksy produced wads of spoof £10 notes with Princess Diana replacing the Queen and "Banksy of England" replacing "Bank of England". Handfuls were thrown from a float at the Notting Hill Carnival and many tried to spend them in local shops. The thrifty saved them - they generally sell on Ebay for £200 each these days. Fifty signed posters with ten uncut notes each were sold for £100 at the time. In 2007, one was sold for £24,000. Ker-ching!

From this point on his works, including spoofs of Monet, Da Vinci and Hopper have continued to sell both briskly and well above their estimates. In fact most articles contain ever escalating exclamations at how much his paintings are worth, which plays straight into his hands. The 'clampdown' from authority figures has been vociferous and sadly nowhere more so, than in London. Both Westminster and Hackney councils painted over works - including one on private property, against the owner's wishes. The explanation being that it set a dangerous precedent and was an invitation for children to paint on any surface with impunity. Whatever the opinion, when you over-rule individual ownership consent, it doesn't conjure a ready image of democracy.

"When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires." - Banksy

My personal favourite activity of Banksy's has been his subversion of art galleries and other media, by adding his own pieces to collections, unseen. Most additions are met with frosty disapproval and then removed, though several incidents are worth noting. In 2003 Banksy first snared major headlines when he shuffled into The Tate Britain disguised as a pensioner and hung his anti Gulf War piece, which remained in place for two and a half hours. In 2005 Banksy added a painting to gallery forty-nine of The British Museum showing a caveman with a shopping trolley. When they discovered the piece, The British Museum added it to their permanent collection, which is probably the most sensible (and bankable) approach.

His red phone box sculpture, lying broken and bleeding, was left in Soho and promptly removed by Westminster Council. British Telecom however issued a press release describing it as a "stunning visual comment on BT's transformation from an old fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications services provider..." Which is sweet, and hopefully tongue-in-cheek. I remember the red phone box as a much loved icon, which was binned without sentimentality by BT. Then returned to the streets because of the overwhelming barrage of complaint - I'm guessing it says more about that. The Tate Modern actually have the piece now and are waiting for the artist to come forward and claim it. Prepare for a long one, Tate Mod.

In 2006 Banksy swapped 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut album "Paris" with a remixed version by Danger Mouse. The cover art was replaced with Banksy's own (Paris topless) and the track titles were substituted with new ones such as "Why am I famous?", "What have I done?", "What am I for?" Some were purchased and have since been resold for up to £750. Both HMV and Virgin were complimentary about the incident, citing that Banksy represented many peoples' views on Paris Hilton (HMV) and Virgin were just stunned (jealous?) by the global impact of the stunt (it set the Internet alight).

Although there is much "evidence" concerning Banksy's identity including pictures and citations from people who have conducted interviews with him - there's no such interest here on the Inside Guide to London. These exposés are usually undertaken by the established press, who see his anonymity as being the over-riding source of his mystique (the Superman/Clark Kent ticket). Most ordinary members of the public, I would imagine, respect his fly-in the-face of the establishment views, above his apparent invisibility. His value at the auction house and as a media sensation are undoubtedly linked to his pin-sharp observation and belief that consumer hypocrisy should be consistently exposed. You can't help feeling that a media obsession with anonymity is missing the point. The recent Wiki-leaks debacle tried the same conjuring trick. The focus was the 'threat to national security' and very little mention that - every press statement and official 'view' presented to the public, is at best a half-truth.

It doesn't matter who Banksy is, any more than knowing that "Sting" is Gordon Sumner. If you want to see other examples of his work, he has a book out "Wall and Piece" which you can Google and purchase from the least-offensive, retail oligarch. The following link is to an updated Google map showing where Banksy pieces are located around London. The majority have been cleaned away, but a few are still left. There's also a lively Banksy Flickr group which tracks his latest works by public submissions from around the globe.

Banksy is very much an Internet phenomenon because of the volatilty of his pieces. Many only last for a day or two at most, but they're instantly spotted, photographed and shared via social networks, across the globe. (Just like this article is doing). Banksy also doesn't exercise copyright on his work unless you try to sell it. What's not to like?

 

"Pier Pressure" ride - Brighton. Its creation is a lampoon of BP's cavalier attitude to world ecology. The fact that people are riding on it unaware - like it's Disney - elevates it to comic genius.