Banksy or not a Banksy? A question of Shakespearean magnitude! lol!
You’re here because you love Bansky. So many people do. But, search any forum like Quora or Facebook and you will find so many people asking if a particular piece of graffiti street art is a Banksy or not. There are many lookalikes and many people just expressing themselves in their own form of stencil art.
Over the years since running this online Banksy store we have sold many Banksy canvases but some of them are not actual Banksy art. The pieces are nonetheless still very Banksy-esque and that’s why we have listed them in our store.
Let’s dive in and find out which pieces are commonly mistaken for Banksys
The famous Life is Short Chill the Duck Out piece is the number 1 non- Banksy! The picture is one of our best selling here at BanksyShop.net.
But, did you know that Life is Short was actually painted by Australian Artist Andy Baker from Bald Art?
Andy has always had a love affair with all things relating the street art and so created a series of graffiti pieces. He wanted to tell a story with Life is Short Chill the Duck Out and be a ‘smart alec’. He really achieved this and without fail puts a smile on my face every time I see the two boys on top of a dumpster peeing against a wall. The two bare-bottomed boys, ultimately, have been mistaken for Banksy street art time and again.
Another of my favourites from the collection is ‘I Ducking Love NY’. Check out the rest of Bald Art collection on Andy’s website or buy the a copy of the original piece Here.
Far and wide people think this is a Banksy. Even we thought it was too and that’s why we list it here on our Banksy web shop too. Want it? Buy it here.
Believe it or not, Mario and the Cop was created by UK artist Trust.iCon. Like Banksy, the identity of iCon remains unknown. What we do know is that the artist grew up in the Thamesmead area of South London, a particularly troubled neighbourhood and devoid of any positive messaging and direction for the youth.
And so, in the aftermath of the 2011 London riots, iCon started to leave his stamp on the streets of the city.
The signature juxtaposition of humour and controversy immediately proved very effective and iCon’s star was born. No more so than in this funny depiction of Mario being reprimanded by a policeman for carrying ‘magic’ mushrooms. If you are familiar with the gameplay from Mario World you’ll know that Mario eats mushrooms for magical or restorative properties.
The humour and social commentary are very like Banksy and it’s not hard to see why so many jump to the conclusion that it is a Banksy. I often wonder do people like Mario with Mushrooms and Policeman because it looks like a Banksy, or, does it stand out based on it’s own merits as a poignant work of street art.
If you would like to own your own canvas of this great piece of street art you can purchase from our Banksy online store.
