Argumentative Essay On Banksy

Banksy has enough money to use spaces, like art galleries, legally, but instead still chooses to use some of the only spaces spaces that teenagers have access to, and therefore need more than him. In “Banksy: The $20 Million Graffiti Artist Who Doesn 't Want His Art To Be Worth Anything,” Danielle Rahm touches upon Banksy being an outsider to the graffiti community by stating: “Banksy is not in need of money, unlike many of the street artists he identifies with.” Not only does Banksy not need the money that he is getting from capitalizing off of New York’s graffiti culture, as Rahm says “he is estimated to have a net worth upwards of $20 million.” Banksy has made more than a middle class person, and significantly more by having the privilege

This can be harmful especially when considering the legality of graffiti and if it should be legalized. People in the graffiti community would benefit from lower incarceration rates and less fines. However people see Banksy committing vandalism and getting away with it, and think the illegality is a minor roadblock in the road to success. One thing that is left out of this consideration is race. By simply being White and having white privilege, Banksy is less likely to be arrested or fined than a minority teen who is caught spray painting. With Banksy’s new found success, fines or bail wouldn’t be a burden on him like they would an inner city teen (presumably of

Although other artists know who he is, Banksy doesn’t have a public face that he shows at galleries and in his documentaries. In Will Ellsworth-Jones article “The Story Behind Banksy: on his way to becoming an international icon, the subversive and secretive street artist turned the art world upside-down” he talks about one of Banksy’s earlier galleries. Ellsworth-Jones says “The show was a high-profile demonstration of the phenomenon that has come to be known as the ‘Banksy effect’—the artist’s astounding success in bringing urban, outsider art into the cultural, and increasingly profitable, mainstream” (2). Banksy’s “effect” is altering urban culture and bringing it to art galleries to be displayed and sold. In the grand scheme of things, he is commodifying graffiti and urban culture, making it more consumable and then proceeding selling and profit off of it. In A&E’s biography page for Banksy they state that Banksy’s work is unique due to the fact that it “often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed.” The uniqueness of his work is a common reason different news outlets give for Banksy’s success. Contrary to popular belief, Banksy’s content isn’t groundbreaking. Artists of all mediums, including graffiti, before and during his time have touched upon all of the same themes as