Banksy is an artist that is hard not to be intrigued by. He shreds his art pieces mid-auction, he anonymously releases an entire film, and continues on making power moves in the face of publicists, celebrities and high ranking auction officials.
Banksy’s Girl with Balloon sold in London auction for about 1.1 million dollars and mysteriously started to shred itself. However, people expect this to only increase the value of the piece.
Banksy typically works in graffiti as he wants his art to be available to everyone. It is also ironic as his art typically makes a statement on sociocultural issues and he is using graffiti to convey the message (which as we know vandalism is illegal). So in this way it is ironic to choose an illegal method to convey a message on things sometimes concerning legality.
Armored Dove of Peace:
This piece is featured on the concrete part of the West Bank Wall (used to separate Palestine and Israeli). Through this piece’s contrasting and ironic symbolism, it is able to represent how peace can only be maintained and achieved if people want it; and in this case he believes people don’t.
It’s through Banksy’s continued use of graffiti (and its irony in the way that it conveys messages) and his focus on sociocultural issues that places him at the helm of postmodernist art.
Postmodern with a captital P 