Show Me the Banksy: 9 Banksy Quiz Questions

Titled Subject to Availability, the 2009 artwork features a defaced version of an 1890 oil painting by Albert Bierstadt depicting Mount Rainier National Park. Banksy added an asterisk to the painting with the note: “Subject to availability for a limited period only.” – obviously referring to the climate crisis.

Banksy 2021 Fact

On Wednesday, June 30, 2021, Christie’s sold Banksy’s “Subject to Availability” at a London auction for more than £4.5 million ($6.3 million).

In a video posted Thursday, Mar. 4, 2021, on the Twitter account, BurntBanksy, a member of an art group, burns a 2006 print titled Morons, reportedly purchased for $33,000 at Christie’s in December. The BurntBanksy member explains to the camera: “By removing the physical piece from existence and only having the NFT, we will ensure that no one can alter the piece and it is the true piece that exists in the world. By doing this, the value of the physical piece will then be moved onto the NFT.” The video piece is on auction at the Opensea website.

What’s NFT again?

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a particular type of cryptographic token which represents something unique. NFTs create digital ownership for several specific purposes that require individual digital identities like crypto art, digital collectibles, and online gaming.

“Love is in the Bin” is the shredded 2018 copy of Banksy’s 2006 painting of what was then known as “Girl with Balloon.” It was “destroyed” immediately after Sotheby’s sold it at an auction for a record £1,042,000 ($1.4 million).

“Love is in the Bin” News Fact

On Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, Sotheby’s said that “Love is in the Bin” would be offered at a sale in London on Oct. 14. The piece has a pre-sale estimate of 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds (up to $8.3 million).

Laugh Now is one of the earliest Banksy artworks, first created in 2002, depicting a monkey wearing a sandwich board with the text, “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.”

Is Laugh Now trademarked?

Image: Banksy’s Laugh Now.

On May 18, the “Cancellation Division” of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled that Banksy’s trademark for Laugh Now is invalid. The EUIPO ruled in favor of Greeting card company Full Colour Black which claimed that as a work of public graffiti, “Laugh Now” was free to be photographed by the general public and that Banksy “even provided high-resolution versions of his work on his website and invited the public to download them and produce their own items.” On Nov. 15, 2022, the 5th Board of Appeal of the EUIPO confirmed Banksy’s monkey trademark is valid. It annulled the cancellation of the EUTM.

Ten new works by Banksy appeared in the coastal towns of Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England over the week ending Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021. The artist’s website has depicted images of the works under the title “A Great British Spraycation,” a play on the word staycation.

In an artwork posted to his Instagram account on Nov. 11, 2022, Banksy depicts a girl gymnast doing a handstand on a pile of concrete rubble.

Screenshot: AFP on YouTube

This mural, and two others, are located in the Ukrainian town of Borodyanka, which Russia occupied between February and April.

Banksy’s 2023 Valentine’s Day piece in Margate features a 1950s homemaker with a swollen eye and missing tooth, apparently squeezing a man in a freezer. The artist confirmed it as his own via a post on Instagram on Feb. 14, 2023. Margate council, however, deemed the broken freezer a safety hazard and took it off public land. It’s now in storage and will be returned once it’s repaired to safety. The council is also talking to the property owner about preserving the art.

In a recently unearthed BBC interview from 2003, the elusive street artist Banksy revealed his first name was “Robbie.” Despite various theories and guesses over the years, including names like Robin Gunningham, this is the only instance where Banksy has provided any hint about his real name. The interview also sheds light on his distinct approach to art, emphasizing speed and impact, much like the quick convenience of microwaving meals.