Good morning Year 5,
Banksy is a famous British artist. He keeps his identity a secret!
Although a lot of his art is produced in public places, he usually only reveals it’s his after it has appeared on his social media.
Every time a piece by Banksy appears people get very excited.
His work can fetch well over £1 million and is known all over the world.
Here is his artwork for Valentine’s Day – a girl firing red plastic flowers from a catapult on a house wall in Bristol:
A lot of his art is done in a particular style which people can easily recognise.
Although lots of people have tried to guess who he is, his identity has still not been revealed.
Banksy first got noticed for spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol during the early 1990s.
Street art and graffiti can be considered criminal damage, so in the beginning it’s thought the artist stayed anonymous to keep out of trouble.
In the beginning his pieces were mainly in Bristol, but in the 2000s his artworks started appearing all over the UK and other parts of the world.
Banksy doesn’t only do street art, he’s produced drawings, paintings and installation pieces. He even created his own theme park called Dismaland.
Banksy’s work is known for delivering political messages.
Banksy’s work is very valuable and can go for thousands of pounds.
Lots of people who love what he does, and are willing to pay a lot for his work.
At auction in 2008 a piece of work called Keep It Spotless was sold for just over £1 million.
In the same year, a mobile home that had a piece of Banksy artwork on it was given a £500,000 price tag. This was because of the artwork that it had on the side.
Banksy has often made clear that he doesn’t like his work selling for so much money. In 2008, a painting went for £1 million before destroying itself in front of a surprised an horrified auction house. Click here to see: BBC: Banksy.
And because many people consider street art to be vandalism, some of his work was painted over as soon as it appeared. Sometimes graffiti artists put their own work over it.
Because of this when a Banksy does appear the owner usually covers it up with plastic sheeting to protect it.
There is a debate about why Banksy’s work can be protected as ‘art’ when other graffiti artists are prosecuted and sometimes even put in prison for doing the same thing.
When Banksy leaves his artwork on buildings, there can sometimes be arguments about who owns the pieces and what should be done with them, as they are very valuable.
Sometimes people want to sell them to raise money for a cause, while others think the works should be left to be enjoyed by others. What do you think?
Have a look at his recent artwork:
This artwork depicts a child playing with a nurse toy, with Batman and Spider-Man discarded in a bin. The toy he is playing with is a nurse wearing a face mask.
This artwork celebrates our superhero health workers (the NHS). I personally really like it and I think they truly are superheros. I was very moved when I saw this artwork.
What you think? Let us know in the comments.
Have you spotted a Banksy near you?
Today’s task: Create a piece of art in the style of Banksy.
Watch: BBC KS2: Banksy Style Stencilling
Create a Banksy-style stencilled image with just a paper plate, scissors, paint and a brush. A chosen image is drawn on a paper plate and cut out to leave an empty silhouette. The plate is then placed in position on a chosen background and paint is applied to the stencil either by spraying of stippling with a thick brush. The background can be pre-prepared on card or paper. Once the stencil is lifted from the background, the stippled image is revealed. Alternatively the stencil could be applied directly to a wall or board in the same way. The image can be repeated many times over and flipped to create a reverse image. You could also just draw your image and colour it in black! Try adding a pop of colour if you wish – Banksy often adds red or another colour to his art.
It could also be a black and white drawing like the one with the superhero nurse!
Please send you art via the Homework Uploader.
I can’t wait to see your art!
Mrs Avdiu xx
printer-friendly version: Tuesday art blog
Elena’s Banksy inspired art:
Hello everyone!
I hope that you’re all safe and well!
I found this task very interesting- here are my answers to the questions:
In my opinion, I think that this artist ( Banksy ) , should get money for his work as it is very breathtaking. I love how it always shares a message ; for an example, the picture of a nurse, bat-man and spider-man. The meaning of this picture is that you do not have to have superpowers to be superheros. The NHS and the other care workers do not have invisibility powers. They do not have the power to fly. The thing that they do have is love and super- strength. This means that the NHS and the other care workers are real heroes in different ways. They can teach or safe peoples lives. So in my opinion, that painting has a very good message. I was also very moved when I saw this painting.
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At the moment, I am working on the art work so when I finish I will send it via Homework Uploader.
See you all soon!!
Hi Nika. I am glad you found the task interesting and glad to know you were ‘moved’ by his work!
Thank you for your lovely interpretation and reflection of his artwork. I agree with you! They really are heroes.
Hi everyone I just wanted to say my godfather knows Banksy as a friend!
Wow! Are you saying we are closer to finding out his identity …. ? 🙂
Hello Everyone !!
At the moment I am working on my piece of art and I will send it on the homework uploader very soon 🙂
can’t wait to see it!
Good morning everyone, I hope you have had a great day so far. I am about to start my Banksy artwork and I think that Banksy’s new coronavirus picture is really inspiring.
I also agree with Nika that the meaning of this picture is that you don’t have to be able to teleport or fly to be a superhero, you just have to help other people and do good.
Hi Zavan. I am glad you feel inspired by his art. I can’t wait to see your art!
Hi everyone.
I like this Bansky picture because I like how he/she uses different shades by just using a pencil. Also I think it represents that the NHS workers are kind of superheroes, since they save lives and that it shows that the NHS are just as much as a superhero as Batman etc.
Thanks for sharing your views on the art! I really like it too 🙂
Hello everyone I ?hope you are all ok and i cant wait until Ican upload my art work. I have heard of Banksy from my dad but I don’t know much or why he hides his real identity.
Do you know more now? Hope you have learnt something new today! 🙂
Hello everyone, I hope you are all well. Here are the answers to the questions:
I also agree that this is a very moving piece of art, it has inspired me that we should be grateful for our key workers. It’s very detailed and love how they are mainly in black and white, which isn’t as common as colour, and how the nurse has a little cape and is our hero. I haven’t seen a Banksy near me but I am going to start keeping an eye out for one. Hopefully I will see one soon.
Bye everyone have a nice day.
Thank you Elsa! What a fantastic reflection of how the art makes you feel and think. Let me know if you do spot one!
Hi Mrs Avdiu,
Hope you like my stencils! Hope you are well!
Gabi
I love it! How beautiful 🙂
Hello everyone
Banksy is a famous graffiti artist who uses stencils so I made graffiti using stencils
How to make graffiti using stencils
1. Get some paper then you could write or draw something ( you don’t need to add details because later on you will be cutting it out )
2. Then you cut your words or drawing out.
3. You can throw the cut out words or drawings you need the paper that you did it on.
4. You put the paper on a bigger piece of paper ( you should put it in the middle of the big piece of paper )
5. Choose some spray paint colours ( I only chose two )
6. Shake them for about 20 seconds
7. Then you spray the drawing or words!
You can also reuse the stencil !
I hope everyone has a great day ????☺️
Thanks for the tips Mathilde! Mathilde, your art work is beautiful and I love how you chose such bright colours for your initials ?
Hi Sara, can you try sending yours again because nothing came up when I tried to open it! You sent it as a ‘zip’ file instead of .jpeg image and when I open it, there is nothing in the zip file…
Good afternoon Mrs Avdiu, I have sent in my artwork via the homework uploader.
I have seen it! It looks incredible. Well done Zavan!
Beautiful work Zavan! Can you tell us how you made it? Did you use a stencil?