Wall and Piece (Hardcover)

by Banksy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is work that must be witnessed, lived with, taken to heart, and re-enacted in the name of Freedom."  —Rain Taxi Review of Books

Product Description
The collected works of Britain’s most wanted artist.

Artistic genius, political activist, painter and decorator, mythic legend or notorious graffiti artist? The work of Banksy is unmistakable (except maybe when it’s squatting in the New York’s Metropolitan Museum or Museum of Modern Art.) Banksy is responsible for decorating the streets, walls, bridges and zoos of towns and cites throughout the world.

Witty and subversive, his stencils show monkeys with weapons of mass destruction, policeman with smiley faces, rats with drills and umbrellas. If you look hard enough you’ll find your own. His statements, incitements, ironies and epigrams are by turns intelligent and witty comments on everything from the monarchy and capitalism to the war in Iraq and farm animals.

His identity remains unknown, but his work is prolific. And now for the first time, he’s putting together the best of his work—old and new—in a fully illustrated color volume.

Banksy, real name unknown, was born in Bristol, England.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK; illustrated edition edition (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844137864
• ISBN-13: 978-1844137862
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,410 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art like a land mine, December 6, 2005

By	tokyo111 (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Think art has lost its edge? Witness the art of England's Banksy and reconsider.

His message: that if the powerful and wealthy get to force-feed consumerist propaganda to citizens via giant billboards... then citizens have the right to reply in kind. To that end he's trekked around the world throwing up politically pointed, often funny, always eye-popping street art wherever he damn well pleases: On sidewalks, on train trestles, on the West Bank wall between Israel and Palestine, in monkey cages at the zoo, in the world's great museums (unbeknownst to the curators, of course), and on farm animals (yes, ON them).

"Wall and Piece" is a "best of" overview of Banksy's career, and impresses on a lot of levels. There's the skill and variety of Banksy's techniques (stencils, illustrations, paintings, screenprints and sculptures are all on display). There's the caustic wit of his writing (expressed here in almost epigrammatic blurbs about art and politics). And there's his genius as a prankster. Example: Not content merely to graffitti a blank wall in Westminster, Banksy instead throws up an official-looking "This Wall Is A Designated Graffitti Area" stencil (complete with a "royal" crest swiped off a pack of cigarettes)... and watches others do the work for him.

For those yearning for art that's active... that excites and inspires instead of merely placating... this is the book of the year. One warning: it sits on your coffee table like a social land mine. Guests come over, crack it open, and it obliterates conversation for a while as they get sucked in. Completely Addictive. Highly recommended.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never mind the bollocks - here's Banksy, May 11, 2007

By	Clary Antome "www.literature-for-aliens.net" - See all my reviews

In a time when most works of art consist of either inconsequential pseudo-intellectual "abstractions" or fatuous entertainment, it can be a great relief to stumble upon something like Banksy's paintings/writings on the wall. And here we have a nice compilation by this growingly famous pseudo-anonymous artist for all those who do not plan to bother travelling to London, Barcelona, San Francisco, Palestine or whatever other hellish place that has been blessed with his striking graffiti creations.

Incidentally, the Oxford Dictionary defines graffiti as: "drawings or writing on a wall, etc. in a public place. They are usually rude, humorous or political." Banksy's work, of course, is all three simultaneously. Perhaps that's one of the elements distinguishing him from other (half)underground artists (or just assertive kids) trying to get their message through by painting public buildings without official permission.
For better or for worse, Banksy's art is loaded with meanings - and they're not that difficult to figure out, either. No wonder that no self-respecting "modern art" museum showed much interest in him - at least until he made himself noticed by blatantly breaking the rules. Don't we all love a non-conformist!

In many ways, Banksy represents the good old punk ethos at its best: he is an exemplary practitioner of Do-It-Yourself techniques (up to his famous pranks of sneaking his works into big international museums); his themes are often (if not always) anti-authoritarian; his art is oozing with cynicism and (self-)mockery. Even the leitmotiv of the (nasty, snide, irredeemable) RAT as a reverse mirror of mainstream values, empty promises and not-so-subtle state disciplinary measures is reminiscent of the height of punk insubordination. Those were the days!
Still, as we all know, Punk is Dead. Anarchy didn't even come close to becoming more than a cute slogan. The "System" hasn't collapsed (yet). But that doesn't mean one should stop kicking and screaming, does it?

Fortunately, Banksy isn't just a "retro" artist - quite the opposite, he manages to reflect his own time and culture in a unique and very convincing way. Which is a hell of an achievement, considering how quickly any defiance is turned into a (boring) spectacle these days, with cheap t-shirts and mugs thrown into the bargain.
Whether in his mockery of paranoia-inducing surveillance cameras, ever-present police officers, soldiers and impressive arsenal (of the peaceful West) - or his caricatures of a commercial culture incorporating everything from revolutionary anti-capitalist icons to flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark, - Banksy twists symbols and turns meanings upside down to shed a light on the contradictions lying beneath a stifling pile of stupefying nonsense and outright lies. Plus he's funny about it. What else could you wish for?

Although there are lots of pictures of Banksy's art on the internet, this book offers two advantages: 1) it's much nicer and more comfortable to look at the (many) printed pictures; and 2) the artist has added some interesting personal thoughts/experiences which only contribute to his image of a smart, somewhat riotous but also admirably understated RAT. And a wise self-promoter.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars love his work, July 3, 2007

By	Nikwax (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wall and Piece (Paperback)

This is a delightful book of a very creative graffiti/street artist. Banksy is unarguably a massive egotist and shameless self-promoter, and one may argue with his approach to what a street artist can do (anything he wants, according to Banksy). But those are mere quibbles compared to the amazing vision and wit that he possesses.