Why is banksy so famous

Having taken legal action against a greeting cards company for using images of his famous Love Is In The Air mural on its products, Banksy ended up losing his EU trademark of the artwork in September Seeing as nobody knows who Banksy is, it begs the question: how exactly does he get paid? In this respect, his anonymity makes no difference to his profits.

However, his fame means that other people have tried to cash in where he cannot. It has become common for art dealers and property owners to remove and sell entire walls which bear an original Banksy. The elusive painter has been able to make money by selling prints, which were previously distributed through a website called Pictures On Walls POW until it stopped operating in , and often featured the same iconic images he previously painted on city walls. Either unable or unwilling to become part of the art market we once so self-righteously denounced — we called it quits.

In addition, Banksy has made money from other projects, including his best-selling book Wall and Piece , and the Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. Some of his graffiti has been painted over soon after it appears. 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.

Some of his work is also controversial because of what he does with it. At an exhibition of his work in London in , he released live rats in the gallery. Rats are a common theme in his work. Banksy was enough of an artistic celebrity by the early s that his work would sell for a lot of money. This was all because of the artwork that it had on the side.

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.

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Home Menu. Banksy: Who is the famous graffiti artist? Press Association. This piece appeared in London towards the end of last year. Who is Banksy? Why does no one know who Banksy is? This is the other new piece of work that has appeared in London. Barcode Banksy. Related Artists. Keith Haring. Buy Artwork Sell Artwork. Damien Hirst. Andy Warhol. Seller's Guide to Warhol.

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