Banksy - statistics & facts
Who is Banksy? Most people would say a famous British graffiti artist whose identity is yet to be confirmed. However, the truth is that even Banksy “is currently struggling with that very question”, as ironically stated by Pest Control, the official agency dealing with the artist’s works. Notably critical towards the global art market and auction market, Banksy became one of the contemporary artists with the highest auction sales worldwide.
However, Banksy's works do not always convey irony or a deeper meaning. The recent summer 2024 “London Zoo” artworks, a graffiti series depicting nine animals across different locations in the British capital, were created to simply bring a smile to people's faces. The artist, once again, gained media attention, and the interest in Banksy on Google reached its highest peak that year.
After their iconic stencils, prints, street installations, and ingenious pranks, how will the artist surprise us next? Perhaps instead of "who is Banksy?", this is the better question to ask. While the artist's identity might always remain a mystery, there is little doubt of Banksy's momentous impact on the contemporary art world.
What is Banksy’s most expensive work of art?
Sotheby’s, one of the leading auction houses worldwide, sold Banksy’s famous painting “Girl with Balloon” for nearly 1.4 million U.S. dollars in 2018. A few seconds after the auctioneer’s hammer came down, a shredding device hidden in the picture’s frame activated. While the artist intended to destroy the whole painting, the shredder stopped halfway through. Three years later, the damaged work, renamed “Love is in the Bin”, was auctioned again, fetching over 18 million British pounds (equivalent to around 25 million U.S. dollars) and becoming the most expensive Banksy artwork sold at auction to date.From art to activism: Banksy in the media
Over the past twenty years, Banksy’s creative art interventions certainly did not go unnoticed. During the so-called “museum pranks”, the artist walked into some of the most popular museums worldwide, like Paris’ Louvre and London's National History Museum, and managed to hang up their own artwork. Often engaging in activist causes, Banksy also created an inflatable migrant boat that was launched across the crowd at Glastonbury in 2024, one of the most attended music festivals in Europe.However, Banksy's works do not always convey irony or a deeper meaning. The recent summer 2024 “London Zoo” artworks, a graffiti series depicting nine animals across different locations in the British capital, were created to simply bring a smile to people's faces. The artist, once again, gained media attention, and the interest in Banksy on Google reached its highest peak that year.
After their iconic stencils, prints, street installations, and ingenious pranks, how will the artist surprise us next? Perhaps instead of "who is Banksy?", this is the better question to ask. While the artist's identity might always remain a mystery, there is little doubt of Banksy's momentous impact on the contemporary art world.
