Who is Banksy?

Banksy is Batman he is not Robin.

The more important question I want to know is who are you?

When you look in the mirror are you a hero, a villain, an asshole — or just a casual observer?

Super heroes as well as super villains exist in this world we live in today, although it’s not always clear who is who. About two decades ago in a small community in the city of Los Angeles called Silver Lake, a tiny gallery / bookstore was having an art show of a few thrift store paintings hung on display with army choppers and primates stenciled over them. I thought they were hilarious, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to pay the asking price of $200; I would rather just make my own (and I did). Time went on, none of the pieces had sold and the shop owner seemed a little desperate, so I used my Korean negotiation skills to talk him down to $50; although, even at $50 I felt a little cheated buying stencil art, but back then, as a starving artist myself, I was always open to supporting other starving artists so I felt good about that part. I asked who the artist was, and he said it was a fellow from across the pond in the UK who goes by the name Bank-Ski, and he was across the street. I said oh cool and went across the street and met a delightful young dark skinned chap with a slight Arabic accent, that was excited about his first art show in America, but also didn’t care much that he hadn’t sold anything and cared more about changing the environment and waking people the fuck up. The shop owner had mispronounced his name, it wasn’t Bank-ski — it was Banksy, and that would be the last time I would meet him until 10 years later with a red elephant but that’s a whole different story; He gave me a cardboard cutout stencil of a rat with a bazooka , I loved it so much I spray painted it all over koreatown until the stencil fell apart, as I looked back and realized, oh shit I’m a Banksy! …