Banksy

I was catching up on some regular blogs last night and came across a post by Brooke at Boobooksausagedogs. It reminded me I had been intending to post about the very same artist for a while now. On the first day of my arts course we went exploring some of Melbourne's galleries and was introduced to Banksy's work (in the street not in a gallery). I had taken a photo of his graffiti in Melbourne and was going to post it - so at last - here it is.

Keeping his identity a closely guarded secret, the graffiti artist Banksy has made a name for himself with provocative images stenciled around the streets of London. This British street artist with an international reputation has also left his mark in a narrow Melbourne laneway... It's near a corner of a small alleyway just off Flinders Lane, between Degreaves and Swanston Streets.


Funny thing is, it has been valued at $400,000 due to the artist's notoriety! Melbourne council, in it's wisdom, have decided to cover (protect) the artwork (due to it's rumoured value) with a piece of perspex. Hmmm. This is totally against the intentions of the artist, and it is likely will do little to protect the original, but rather be the perfect surface for Melbourne graffiti artists to comment on the councils intellect.

I thought the Banksy website was interesting and I liked a lot of his work. It's worth a look if you are interested. There is a range of images of indoor and outdoor work and some films too. He even has a shop!

"Everything in the shop is free, simply download the file and process the artwork. This shop is for personal amusement only. Please don't use it to start a business. Thanks."