People are fond of using military terms to describe what they do. We call it bombing when we go out painting, when of course it’s more like entertaining the troops in a neutral zone, during peacetime in a country without an army.
BANKSYPeople are fond of using military terms to describe what they do. We call it bombing when we go out painting, when of course it’s more like entertaining the troops in a neutral zone, during peacetime in a country without an army.
BANKSYIt’s a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department.
BANKSYI used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don’t do that so much anymore.
BANKSYIf you don’t own a train company then you go and paint on one instead… it all comes from that thing at school when you had to have name tags in the back of something… that makes it belong to you. You can own half the city by scribbling your name over it.
BANKSYFilm is incredibly democratic and accessible, it’s probably the best option if you actually want to change the world, not just re-decorate it.
BANKSYI don’t think you should have to pay to look at graffiti. You should only pay if you want to get rid of it.
BANKSYNothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.
BANKSYI like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom.
BANKSYBus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums.
BANKSYI tell myself I use art to promote dissent, but maybe I am just using dissent to promote my art. I plead not guilty to selling out. But I plead it from a bigger house than I used to live in.
BANKSYGraffiti is only dangerous in the mind of three types of people; politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers.
BANKSYThere’s nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place.
BANKSYYou can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.
BANKSYThe one thing you can rely on is if you get disturbed halfway through a painting and it looks a bit naff, then someone will preserve that piece, remove it and a few months later it’ll be paraded round Sotheby’s by people wearing white gloves.
BANKSYYou’re mind is working at its best when you’re being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.
BANKSYIf you have a statue in the city centre you could go past it every day on your way to school and never even notice it, right. But as soon as someone puts a traffic cone on its head, you’ve made your own sculpture.
BANKSY