Banksyisms: The Wit, Wisdom and Inspiration of an Art Outlaw

by Patrick Potter

Banksyisms. The Wit, Wisdom and Inspiration of An Art Outlaw is an in-depth look at his inspirational and witty commentary, complemented by images of his most iconic work. Featuring observations and insight, vibrantly illustrated with photography it also includes a timeline spanning his full career to date. From self-help to help-yourself all the way to just plain old, help! If you’ve been crying yourself to sleep over your failings as a rat athlete in the rat olympics of late-capitalist life then take comfort. This book is for you. Features his very latest work and Nottingham Hula Hoop Girl, Bristol Valentines’ Day, Turf War Exhibition, Girl With Balloon, Birmingham Reindeer Bench, London Extinction Rebellion, Calais Steve Jobs, Devolved Parliament, New York You Loot We Shoot. Spanning Gaza, London, Bristol, New York, LA and Paris among many many more.

Genres: Art

228 pages, Hardcover

Published July 6, 2021

Reviews

[Basil Latif]

Banksy is an anti-capitalistic artist who is focused on social justice and human dignity. This was an eye opening read. Through a series of photographs of Banksy’s graffiti art work as well as commentary on his philosophy and quotes from his interviews, I learned how Banksy uses his art to spread his message. Banksy uses his graffiti art to reclaim public space; whereas public space is normally filled with marketing messages and cold, unfeeling concrete structures, Banksy reclaims these same spaces with thoughtful and interesting graffiti art pieces. His art does command your attention and requires the viewer to focus and think about an underlying message that the art is trying to convey. I applaud Banksy and his efforts and this book is well worth the read for anyone interested in the intersection of philosophy and art.

[Legens]

I enjoyed the photos of Banksy pieces, and the quotes from his interviews were usually witty - but I found Potter's commentary on Banksy's art and quotes unnecessary, and the introduction not very revealing.

[Vincent Stoessel]

Banksy is the kind of rebel hero who describe ourselves as artists hope to have before we gave in and got jobs. I’m glad that he’s still out there doing the good work.