Banksy [electronic resource] : The Man Behind the Wall

For someone who shuns the limelight so completely that he conceals his name, never shows his face and gives interviews only by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. From his beginnings as a Bristol graffiti artist, his artwork is now sold at auction for six-figure sums and hangs on celebrities' walls. The appearance of a new Banksy is national news, his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was Oscar-nominated and people queue for hours to see his latest exhibition. Now more National Treasure than edgy outsider, who is Banksy and how did he become what he is today? In the first attempt to tell the full story of Banksy's life and career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of his world and unpicks its contradictions. Whether art or vandalism, anti-establishment or sell-out, Banksy and his work have become a cultural phenomenon and the question 'Who is Banksy?' is as much about his career as it is 'the man behind the wall'. 'Britain's unlikeliest national treasure' Independent 'A fascinating portrait that elicits admiration for a man who, despite his increasingly unconvincing efforts to retain some shred of his vandal status, has had an undeniable impact on art' The Times "For someone who shuns the limelight by concealing his real name, never showing his face and never giving interviews except by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. In his home city of Bristol, in Los Angeles, in London, in New York, wherever there is a Banksy exhibition there is always a huge queue. His book of his art, Wall and Piece, has sold over a quarter of a million copies. Such is the commercial value of his work that people have hacked an entire wall off a building because it bears some of his graffiti. But who is this man; how did he become what he is now; what makes him tick? How far can we get to know and understand someone who goes to such lengths to keep his distance from us? Now, in the first full-length book about Banksy's life and career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of the world in which he operates. He talks to both friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early unnoticed days and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his new-found fame and fortune, and asks what, ultimately, this enigmatic character and his life's work add up to"--Provided by publisher