some sort of Banksy retrospective
As the title indicates, the book covers the early shows. It is edited by art historian Uli Blanché and published by Heidelberg University. The book has some very well-written essays by real experts, and a wealth of fantastic information. It’s downloadable for free here: https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/view/1201/2062/108482
The new book, Cut & Run, 25 years of card labour, has the same mixture of fantastic imagery and witty texts full of insights as Wall and Piece from 2005. As the title indicates, the content covers the exhibition, and it gives us a unique ‘behind the scenes’ view of Banksy’s almost 28 years of doing illegal street art. It seems like the book is only available at the Cut & Run exhibition.
Banksy’s former agent and official photographer released his highly anticipated book in December 2019. Banksy Captured features many previously unpublished photos of Banksy and some amusing stories from various street art adventures. It is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in the early days of British street art.
Steve Lazarides is interviewed in the upcoming documentary Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art, to be released in February 2020. The film features, among others, street art legend Ben Eine, the printer for Pictures on Walls. Click for the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az9ttLyQe9E
By the way, Banksy’s unaltered voice at the beginning of the trailer mentioned above is strikingly similar to the voice of the person presented as Banksy in an interview at the Turf War exhibition in July 2003. Reporter Haig Gordon did the interview for ITV, but the footage was reported to have been forgotten in the ITV archive for 16 years until it surfaced in 2019:
This line of thought in the “Who is Banksy?” mystery is supported by some of the photographs in Lazarides’ new book, especially one on page 154, which is consistent with the alleged Banksy in the resuscitated ITV interview. Whether this person is “one of the Banksys” or “the Banksy” will never be known. The puzzle is part of the overall artistic expression, in which we all play a role.
The first edition of Wall and Piece was published in 2005. The book summarises the previous three black books, but it also has a lot of new material. Wall and Piece became a major bestseller and a must-have for an initiated Banksy follower.
Cut it Out was launched during Santa’s Ghetto 2004 and was the last of the three little black books. It has some interesting street art, loads of rats, and a few lovely canvases. Among them is “Suicide bombers just need a hug” from the Turf War exhibition.
On May 30, Banksy released his second little black book, much heavier on rats than his first book. The book was launched with a street art show called Graffiti, Hostility and the Jubilee, which took place in a tunnel under the railway tracks connecting Clink Street and Bank End in Southwark, Central London.
UK Indymedia published a collage of photos from the event:
Collage: UK Indymedia
In his own words:
“Like most people I have a fantasy that all the little powerless losers will gang up together. That all the vermin will get some good equipment and then the underground will go overground and tear the city apart”
In the summer of 2001, Banksy organised an exhibition at the Cargo Club on Rivington Street. Cargo Club had opened in November 2000 and was built into the railway arches in the same spot as the Rivington Street railway underpass, where Banksy had done his first show in London the year before.
The exhibition featured a lot of the many unsold pieces from the Peace is Tough exhibition in Glasgow earlier that year. It also had various outdoor pieces in the courtyard.
At the same time, Banksy released a book, Banging your head against a brick wall, the first of a series of three small black books in A6 format. It has some surprisingly well-written texts along with images of his most prominent street art and originals. 54 pages in B&W. Some curious highlights:
Banksy unofficial 