Banksy facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Banksy
Banksy art on Brick Lane, East End of London, 2004
Born	Bristol, England
Known for	Street art

Banksy is a famous street artist from England. No one knows his real name, which is why he uses a fake name. He is also a political activist and a film director.

Banksy mixes funny, dark humor with graffiti art. He uses a special method called stenciling. He creates art to talk about problems he sees in the world. You can find his art on big spaces like streets, public buildings, and bridges.

A Banksy artwork from the Bristol underground scene

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Who is Banksy?

Banksy's real name and identity are a secret. But many people believe he is Robin Gunningham. In 2008, a newspaper called The Mail on Sunday guessed his identity using different clues.

Banksy started making art when he was 14 years old. He was expelled from school and had some trouble when he was younger. Since graffiti is against the law, it was important for Banksy to keep his identity a secret.

In 2014, a rumor spread online that Banksy had been arrested. But this turned out to be a hoax, meaning it wasn't true.

Banksy's Art Journey

Starting out (1990–2001)

Banksy began his art journey in Bristol, England. He was part of a group called the DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ). He was inspired by other local artists in the Bristol underground scene.

Banksy's first big wall painting was The Mild Mild West in 1997. It showed a teddy bear throwing a burning bottle at police officers.

Around 2000, he started using stencil graffiti. This method helped him finish his artwork much faster. Banksy's stencils often show strong images with short messages. These messages are usually against war, against too much buying and selling, or against the government. He often paints rats, apes, policemen, soldiers, children, and elderly people.

Exhibitions and fame (2002–2007)

Banksy had several art shows in 2002 and 2003. His first show in Los Angeles was called Existencilism. It was described as "an Exhibition of Art, Lies and Deviousness."

In 2003, he held a show in London called Turf War. For this show, he painted on live animals. An animal rights activist protested this by chaining herself to a railing.

In 2004, Banksy made some fake British £10 notes as a joke. He changed the Queen's face to Diana, Princess of Wales's face. He also changed "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." This act was against the law.

Also in 2004, Banksy created Napalm (Can't Beat That Feeling). This artwork was based on a famous photo from the Vietnam War. In Banksy's version, Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse stand with a screaming girl, but they don't seem to notice her fear.

In 2005, Banksy traveled to the Palestinian territories. He painted nine graffiti images on the Israeli West Bank wall.

Banksy's show Barely Legal in Los Angeles in 2006 was very famous. It included a live elephant painted with pink and gold. This was meant to highlight the problem of world poverty.

After famous people started buying his art, Banksy became very popular. His paintings began selling for a lot of money. In 2007, Banksy won an award for Art's Greatest living Briton. He didn't show up to accept it, keeping his identity a secret.

A stencil of Charles Manson in a prison suit, hitchhiking to anywhere, Archway, London

New Orleans and New York (2008)

In 2008, a couple from the UK decided to sell their mobile home. Banksy had painted a 30-foot mural called Fragile Silence on its side. The home, bought for £1,000, was priced at £500,000.

In August 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina, Banksy painted on abandoned buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Banksy also hosted The Cans Festival in London. He invited graffiti artists from all over the world to paint their own artwork. His first official show in New York City, The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, opened in October 2008.

Banksy Swinger in New Orleans

Work on building in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, August 2008

Museum shows and films (2009-2012)

In 2009, the Bristol Museum vs. Banksy show opened. It was his biggest show yet, with over 100 artworks. More than 300,000 people visited the exhibition.

A disagreement started between Banksy and another graffiti artist named King Robbo. Banksy was accused of painting over one of Robbo's works. This led to many of Banksy's works being changed by other graffiti artists.

Banksy's film Exit Through the Gift Shop premiered in 2010. He painted graffiti related to the film in different cities.

In 2011, Banksy showed Cardinal Sin at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. In 2012, before the 2012 Summer Olympics, he shared photos of graffiti with an Olympic theme on his website.

Murals and theme parks (2013-2015)

In 2013, one of his murals, Slave Labour, was sold. A new mural appeared on his website with the title Better Out Than In.

In October, a small shop selling about 25 spray-art canvases appeared on Fifth Avenue in New York. Tourists could buy Banksy's art for $60 each. Two of these canvases later sold for $214,000 at an auction.

In 2015, Banksy released a video about his trip to the Gaza Strip. He painted several graffiti works there and posted them online.

In August 2015, Banksy opened Dismaland. This was a "bemusement park" that made fun of Disneyland. It closed a month later.

Dismaland (2015), a "bemusement park" in Weston-super-Mare

Hotel designs and shredding art (2017-2018)

In 2017, Banksy designed some rooms for the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem. The hotel was meant to be a temporary art exhibit, but it is still open to visitors.

In 2018, Banksy created more art in New York. One of his artworks, Balloon Girl, sold for over £1 million at an auction. As a prank, Banksy had hidden a shredder inside the frame of the painting. Right after the winning bid, the shredder activated and partly shredded the artwork.

Even though it was shredded, the buyer still wanted the artwork. It was given a new name: Love is in the Bin. Sotheby's, the auction house, said that Banksy "created one" artwork during the auction, instead of destroying it. In 2021, the half-shredded painting sold for $25.4 million.

Chimpanzees and COVID-19 (2019-2021)

In 2019, Banksy's painting Devolved Parliament sold for almost £9.9 million. This 2009 painting shows Members of Parliament as chimpanzees in the House of Commons.

In February 2020, the Valentine's Banksy mural appeared in Bristol. It showed a young girl firing a slingshot of real red flowers and leaves.

In May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Banksy gave a painting called Painting for Saints to a hospital. The painting was sold, and the money went to help health organizations and charities.

Banksy also created an artwork for the 2021 TV show The Outlaws.

Ukraine and London (2022-2024)

In November 2022, Banksy shared pictures of a mural on a damaged building in Borodianka, Ukraine. He also created six graffiti murals in other Ukrainian cities like Kiev and Irpin.

In March 2024, a new Banksy mural appeared in Finsbury Park, London. It showed a heavily pruned tree with green paint on the wall behind it, making it look like the tree had lush leaves. A figure of a worker using a pressure washer was also stenciled on the wall.

In August 2024, Banksy took credit for a series of black silhouette artworks in London. These were part of an animal-themed series.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), Kyiv

Famous Banksy Artworks

Some of Banksy's well-known works include:

The Mild Mild West (1997)
Smiley Copper H (2002)
Leopard and Barcode (2002)
Bomb Hugger (2002)
Love is in the Air (2002)
Untitled (2004)
Ballerina with Action Man Parts (2007)
Glory (2007)
Space Girl and Bird (2007)
Follow Your Dreams (2010)
The Son of a Migrant from Syria, (2015)
Season's Greetings (2018)

Other Creative Projects

Banksy has also created other notable artworks and pranks:

At London Zoo, he painted "We're bored of fish" inside the penguin enclosure.
He left a message in the elephant enclosure at London Zoo saying, "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring."
In 2004, he placed his artwork Banksus Militus Ratus in London's Natural History Museum.
In 2005, he put his artworks in famous museums in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
He hung his version of a cave painting showing a human hunting with a shopping cart in the British Museum.
In 2005, he painted nine images on the Israeli West Bank barrier. These included a ladder going over the wall and children digging a hole through it.
In 2006, Banksy created a sculpture of a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe in its side. He placed it in a London street.
He replaced the covers of 500 Paris Hilton CDs with his own artwork and remixes.
In 2006, he dressed an inflatable doll like a Guantanamo Bay detainment camp prisoner. He then placed it on a ride at Disneyland.
He designed the cover art for Blur's 2003 album Think Tank.
In 2010, a painting of a guard with a balloon animal appeared in Toronto, Canada.
In 2012, he created pieces for the London 2012 games. One showed an athlete throwing a missile instead of a javelin.
In 2014, he created a piece in Cheltenham that showed three men using listening devices to "snoop" on a phone box. This artwork criticized spying.
In 2016, a painting of a child chasing a burning tire was found at a school in Bristol. Banksy left a letter thanking the school for naming a house after him.
In 2017, Banksy claimed a giant Brexit mural painted on a house in Dover.
Banksy's Dream Boat was donated to a charity called Choose Love. People could guess its weight to win the artwork and raise money for refugees.
In 2021, an image of an escaping prisoner appeared on the side of Reading Prison.
In August 2021, several Banksy artworks, called A Great British Spraycation, appeared in towns in East Anglia.

Near Bethlehem – 2005
The "Grin Reaper"
The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum: a recreation of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

How Banksy Creates Art

ATM attacking a girl, Rosebery Avenue, London, January 2008

Since Banksy keeps his identity a secret, no one is sure exactly how he makes his stencil images. Some people think he uses computers. In his book Wall and Piece, he says that he used to get caught often when he started. He began using stencils because it was faster and helped him avoid getting caught by the police.

Some art experts believe Banksy was influenced by other artists. These include musician and graffiti artist 3D and French graffiti artist Blek le Rat.

In 2025, the BBC found some old Banksy murals that were different from his usual stencil style. These early artworks were made for a youth club in his hometown.

Messages in Banksy's Art

Banksy's art often talks about important political and social ideas. He creates art that is:

Against war
Against too much buying and selling
Against unfair governments
Against people in power who control too much
About freedom and individual choice

He also uses his art to criticize things like greed, poverty, hypocrisy (saying one thing but doing another), boredom, and feeling alone.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Banksy followed health advice to stay home. He created an artwork in his own bathroom during this time.

Banksy's Good Deeds

Banksy has given many of his artworks to help different causes. He supports:

Palestinians
Stopping the trading of weapons
Helping refugees
Homeless charities
The National Health Service (NHS)

Books by Banksy

Banksy has published several books. These books contain photos of his artwork and his own writings:

Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall (2001)
Existencilism (2002)
Cut It Out (2004)
Pictures of Walls (2005)
Wall and Piece (2007)

Fun Facts About Banksy

When he first started, Banksy painted mostly freehand (without stencils). He began using stencils in the late 1990s.
He had his first interview in 2003.
In 2004, he printed fake £10 notes. He replaced the Queen's face with Princess Diana’s face. The note read “Banksy of England” instead of “Bank of England.” This was against the law.
He paid a unique tribute to Monet’s famous Water Lilies painting. Banksy added an old shopping cart and garbage to his version of the painting.
In 2010, Time magazine named Banksy one of the 100 most influential people. He sent in a photo of himself wearing a paper bag over his head.

Banksy's Own Words

Here are some famous quotes from Banksy:

"A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with."
"Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a ... sharp knife to it."
"I just want to make the world a better looking place. If you don't like it, you can paint over it!"
"When you go to an art gallery, you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires."
"This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off." (He said this about his show at the Bristol Museum.)