Banksy : the graffiti artist from Bristol

Purely by chance events and an insistence on a connection where there is none, I can hope that just a little bit of kudos generated by the startling guerilla artist Banksy might fall on me.

Both from Bristol,yay, me and all the others. Yes, the connection is tenuous to say the least but over the last six years , perhaps even longer, it's been a source of enjoyment spotting a new "Banksy" appearing on the Bristol streets. For example,'The Mild Mild West' with the policemen that appeared on the wall right outside the 1st floor canteen of Lloyds Bowmaker Leasing in Stokes Croft where I worked as a programmer, and the masked man with the chainsaw,almost hiding behind a street sign, that greeted me as I walked the short distance from the busstop at Tesco Eastville to home near Eastville Park. I think it was the fact that I enjoyed these works and that they weren't being scrubbed off the walls asap, provided a sense of belonging to a community, albeit one I did not see or directly contribute to. A bit like when I used to listen to John Peel on the radio; I never wrote to him and he never knew I existed but he gave my world substance and meaning. Banksy's work inspires interest; it's both intriguing and fun.

Here's the one in Stokes Croft, mentioned above.

Banksy - The Mild Mild West - Stokes Croft

There's an excellent article in yesterday's Sunday Observer detailing Banksy's work and his rise from rather dodgy beginnings (apparently) to world class artist.

In a recent interview with Roger Gastman published in the LA Weekly, Banksy said:

'Some of the paintings have taken literally days to make. Essentially, it's about what a horrible place the world is, how unjust and cruel and pointless life is, and ways to avoid thinking about all that. One of the best ways turned out to be sitting in a warehouse making paintings about cruelty, pain and pointlessness.'

Why not visit Banksy's website and judge for yourself.