Banksy: Street Art in the Shadows

Written by Jocelyn Saucedo

No one knows for sure who Banksy really is, but his work has achieved a cult status in the world of modern art, and brought recognition to street art. His elusive personality garners him both love and hate from the public. Some call his work vandalism or annoying, while many regard him as an artistic revolutionary hero. But regardless of public opinion, the artist has been in the world of street art since the 90’s, and has made a brand of himself through his mysterious nature.

Although interviews with him are rare, Banksy has revealed he was born in Bristol, England and that his beginnings in street art first came through graffiti. He admits it would take him far too long to write out letters with spray paint, which increased his chances of being caught. This is why he opted to use stencils, which he says are accurate and efficient. Often satirical messages and use of slogans characterize his work. Other common motifs are paintings about politics through the use of animals like rats. He also incorporates human figures like policemen, soldiers, or the elderly.

Upon moving to London, he used his street art as a way to counter all of the advertising and billboards that he saw in the city. He “always felt that it was all right to answer back a little bit, I suppose. That the city shouldn't just be a one-way conversation,” Banksy said in an interview with The Sun.

Although his work often sells for millions, remaining anonymous helps him to be humble and to focus on his work. He also prefers to showcase his art prints and other works in a warehouse instead of a gallery. To the artist, graffiti has “always been a temporary art form. You make your mark and then they scrub it off…most of it is just designed to look good from a moving vehicle.”

On his own terms, Banksy has managed to have his art prints displayed, albeit briefly, in some of the world’s finest museums. Dressed in a trench coat and fake beard, the artist himself walked in and hung up some of his own art prints alongside famous modern art prints at the Museum of Modern Art, and even the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has also placed some of his art prints at London’s Tate Modern art gallery, in an attempt to officially display them and avoid anyone copying his work.

Last year, a mural of a mouse flying a kite surfaced in Oceanside, California and was believed to be by the famous artist, but it was later confirmed that it had not been painted by the artist. However, Banksy’s influence on street art, and the awareness he has brought to the movement, has inspired many other artists in San Diego.

At Thumbprint Gallery, graffiti and stencils are important mediums for Michael Mahaffey, N.O.M.A.D., Enosh, Grandlarsen, Keemowerks and Jason Feather. Artists like Mahaffey had similar beginnings to Banksy, and later ventured into galleries as their own style developed. “I started working on stencils with a friend of mine, and we would hit the streets of Tucson late at night with our stencils and spray paint,” notes Mahaffey. You may check out urban art available at Thumbprint Gallery by clicking here.

See more Thumbprint Gallery artworks available in our online store here.

David Choe: Comics, Prison and Salvation

David Choe started making art in the streets of Los Angeles
-- Photographed by Ken Wood

Written by Lucy Coker

Impulsive and provocative, David Choe is one of the most celebrated graffiti and street artists working in the Los Angeles art scene. His work, which he defines as ‘dirty style,’ is vibrant, shocking and reckless, combined with his fascinating life, every urban art gallery in Los Angeles now seeks after his work.

Slow Jams

Born in Korea town, L.A., David Choe was always surrounded by urban and street art. From an early age Choe’s desire to create just poured out on to whatever medium was at hand. As a child his nose bleeds that dripped onto his sketchpad would be incorporated into his work; the Xerox machine was his first publisher; park benches were a blank canvas for graffiti.

After dropping out of art school, Choe’s work first entered the public sphere through the self-published graphic novel, Slow Jams. Choe hitchhiked across the country scattering copies, giving them to bums on the street and hiding them in public toilets. The only way to get your hands on the work was to find one on the street. The comic’s success saved him from suicide, and opened opportunities in the commercial and graphic design industry. Soon enough Choe had sufficient money to concentrate solely on his own work and began creating murals and paintings.

Tokyo and Dirty Hands

In 2003, Choe travelled to Tokyo and, due to a violent misunderstanding with a security guard, was put in Jail for 3 months. During his time in prison he suffered mentally and with no access to art materials he created over 300 drawings with scraps of paper, a single pen shared with other cellmates, blood, urine and anything else he could get his hands on. (Choe is never allowed back to Tokyo, yet has managed to exhibit through Upper Playground in 2010)

Prison gave Choe a wake up call. On leaving he returned to the Los Angeles art scene a Christian. His art had become a way to release all his ‘dirty’ thoughts as stated in Juxtapoz, “ I feel like my art is disgusting and sick, and I feel like everyone has that evil disgusting creature inside them, I just want to get it out. It’s almost like an exorcism for me.”

From here on Choe’s work began to be successful in the Los Angles urban art galleries. In addition, the release of the documentary “Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe,” in 2008, created by his childhood friend, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2008.

Los Angeles Urban Art Gallery

Today David Choe’s work is greatly sought after in the Los Angeles art galleries. A plethora of celebrities frequently fill his urban art gallery in Los Angeles, despite Choe’s frequent absence due to a hectic schedule contributing to urban art. He has now exhibited in art galleries all over the world and he has work on display in both the White House and was commissioned to do a graffiti mural at Facebook Headquarters.

Californian artists at Thumbprint Gallery, a prominent urban and street art gallery in San Diego, have been inspired by the life and work of David Choe. Thumbprint Gallery exhibits work from local urban artists, many of which, like Choe, and have not followed the conventional path to becoming an urban artist.

See more Thumbprint Gallery artists' works available in our online store. Check it out here.

Sources

“The Redemption of David Choe” by Matthew Newton published in Juxtapoz