A Quick Guide to Banksy Books

While flipping through a book catalog yesterday I noticed some new books on infamous street artist, Banksy. I thought I would list them here, along with the other titles that I’m familiar with:

Wall and Piece by BANKSY
This is the one book that should definitely be on your bookshelf. And as far as I know, the only official Banksy collection out there put together by the artist himself. It is very popular and I have seen it “out of stock” on Amazon quite a few times, especially since the time that Exit Through The Gift Shop came out in theaters. (I know for sure it is one of the best-selling items at Revolution Books L.A.)

Banksy’s Bristol: Home Sweet Home by Steve Wright
A nice hardcover collection that focuses on Banksy’s hometown of Bristol and stands out because it has many images of the artist’s early work. (Also, some interviews with people who worked with him early in his career).

Banksy Locations and Tours Vol. 1 & Vol.2 by Martin Bull
These first came out in the U.K., but then PM Press put out their versions. The collections were put together by photographer Martin Bull, and can be very useful if you ever decide to go on vacation to areas where Banksy has left artwork behind. (Both books also have images of great art from other infamous street artists). But, the drawback to these editions is that they are small (for art books), so even though they have many great photographs, the images are rather small.

Banksy: Myths and Legends by Marc Leverton
This book just came out at the end of last year, from Ginko Press. It’s a smaller book with about 80 color illustrations; however it seems to focus more on “stories” and “facts” about the artist. It seems to feature some of his most recent work and looks like it’s priced very affordably.

Banksy: You Are An Acceptable Level of Threat compiled by Gary Shove & Patrick Potter
A new collection, set to be released this summer, and the preview makes it look very promising—especially because it’s supposed to include photos of the work Banksy did in New Orleans, and the stencils he did out in Los Angeles when he was in town for the Oscars. If you see this at a bookstore, grab it because it definitely looks like it would be worth to add to your home library.

Graffiti in Palestine

There was a post yesterday on Electronic Intifada about some Palestinian artists who "penetrated the heavily fortified heart of West Jerusalem overnight and painted graffiti bearing political messages on walls, doors, construction sites and other surfaces."

Those stencils made me think of the great pieces that Banksy put up when he visited the West Bank a couple years ago. (Example pic on right; click HERE for more pics).

And this, in turn, also made me think of a group that--a few years back--was raising money online by writing graffiti messages on a wall in Palestine for others. People from around the world were able to have donate money and someone would write whatever message they wanted on a wall with a spray-can and then a photo would be sent to them by e-mail.

They stopped taking messages a long time ago because they reached their goal and raised enough to pay for the renovation of the PFF open Youth Center in Bir Zeit. All in all, the sprayed almost 1,500 messages from around the world.

The beauty and power of graffiti art. Worldwide.