Who is Banksy: the famous street artist has finally created the NFT?
There is a lot of controversy around the identity of this mysterious artist. No one has yet been able to reveal his identity. Some claim that his real name is Robin Cunningham. Others believe that this is a musician from the Massive group Attack – Robert Del Naja. Both theories are confirmed by the opinions of scientists from the Queen Mary University of London, as well as an interview with the famous DJ Goldie, who accidentally made a reservation, thereby revealing the identity of the artist. Whether this is true or not is still unknown. And what can change the name of the author, if his work has already become immortal? Who is Banksy? Vandal or brilliant artist?
Social activity
The artist does not officially maintain other social networks.
Banksy personality
The identity of this artist has never been revealed. He is believed to have been born in 1974. Originally from England, the city of Bristol. He began his career in the late 1990s. Banksy made his first graffiti in these years. At the dawn of his career, he was a regular writer, but then his art became more and more ambitious. Which, in fact, influenced the difficulty of hiding from the police. His exact identity is still unknown.
Сreative way
Banksy is rumored to have started his career in the late 1990s. Then he led the usual activities of a writer and did not have wide popularity. In order not to be caught and hide from the police, author began to use stencils, because this way he could do his work faster. The most famous street artist did not immediately decide on his own style. We can see this in the example of his art – the first copies he wrote by hand, they had sloppy outlines.
The work of street artist has now been included in the list of protected objects. Many of the works of street art artist became the property of the UK. Throughout its existence, the artist has managed to become recognizable all over the world, now his exhibitions are presented in various parts of the world.
Banksy style
Work of street artist Banksy is difficult to attribute to any particular style. Banksy’s style is the classic embodiment of the “rebellious” public – it touches on topical topics that people try to close their eyes to. As for the manner of performance, it is difficult to say unequivocally what style he adheres to. Initially, Banksy’s work looked like classic street art: with message-bearing inscriptions and simple drawings. Later, street art artist began to use stencils, which allowed him to apply more complex drawings in a short time. Now, the main style of the unknown graffiti artist is precisely the stencil technique.
Rats are one of the artist’s favorite characters. In his opinion, they symbolize the triumph of the disadvantaged people.
Banksy and the NFT
Banksy is not a classic NFT artist. First and foremost, he is a street artist. Banksy is today a symbol of the modern freelance artist. And it is this image that is ideal for drawing attention to the NFT world. His works are subsequently bought, digitized in the NFT and sold for large sums. Let’s see some examples.
Morons (White)
Banksy’s first work to appear as NFT was the 2006 edition of Morons (White). It depicts a crowded auction room. And the painting for sale says, “I can’t believe you assholes are actually buying this”. The picture has become a mockery of all collectors who buy modern works of art for a lot of money.
The original work was bought by blockchain company Injective Protocol in March 2021 for $95,000. Immediately after the purchase, the new owners burned the painting and digitized it in the NFT. Later that year, Morons (White) NFT sold $380,000 through the OpenSea NFT marketplace, 300% more than the price of the original physical copy.
Love Is In The Bin
This work is one of the most popular and world famous works. The picture depicts an aggressive hooligan who launches a bouquet of flowers instead of a Moltov cocktail. Thus, author shows his negative attitude towards war and calls for peace.
The original painting was bought by blockchain company Injective Protocol in March 2021 for $95,000. Immediately after the purchase, the new owners burned the work and digitized it in the NFT. In 2021, NFT Morons (White) was sold for $380,000 on the NFT marketplace OpenSea.
NFT scam and Banksy
In August 2021, a link to the NFT trading platform OpenSea appeared in a sublink on Banksy’s official website. Reference to “CryptoPunk” NFT with three smoking chimneys considered by some to be genuine NFT. The public took this work as a critique of the NFT market. So did the buyer. The token was purchase by a buyer for $336,000. In the end, it turned out that Banksy’s website was hacked, and it was a hoax.
Notable works by Banksy
The art of the artist are full of controversial issues, like his biography. Some of his most famous works include:
- An image of serial killer Charles Manson, who is currently serving a life sentence,
- Well hanging lover – graffiti painted on the wall of a sex clinic in Bristol,
- One nation under video surveillance – is located directly below the security cameras
- “No Future” with the image of a little girl, and many others.
The artist regularly exhibits in all galleries around the world. His works carry a heavy meaning and at the same time some note of optimism. Without thinking about the negative aspects of life, a person misses the most important thing – the desire to develop. Banksy makes you think about the difficulties, makes you want to fight them.
Our opinion
Who is Banksy? He is a symbol of freedom of creativity, mockery of society. With his art, he shows his reaction to world trends, political and social events. The artist attracts so much public attention that the appearance of his works in the form of NFT would be a logical continuation of his work. Any NFT from Banksy himself would cost crazy money and in any case would enter the top of the most expensive NFTs in the future. But until this happens, we will observe the street art of a brilliant street artist.
