This vibrant three-volume set explores Banksy’s iconic works through the lens of some of his most powerful symbols — rats, monkeys, and children.

Whether he’s protesting war, challenging societal norms, or sending up political and economic systems with his scathing critiques, Banksy’s strategic and inventive use of symbolism is one of his most effective tools. Now renowned Banksy scholar Alessandra Mattanza helps readers understand and contextualize some of Banksy’s most recognized motifs. Packed with images that span his oeuvre since the early 2000s these volumes are filled with photographs and reproductions of some of his most well-known works featuring rats — Let Them Eat Crack, Rat Inside a Clock, monkeys—Laugh Now and Devolved Parliament; and children — Girl with Balloon and Girl Frisking Soldier. His work on urban resistance is also highlighted here, including such pieces as The Flower Thrower and The Son of a Migrant from Syria. In her introductory essays Mattanza delves into the unique resonance of Banksy’s work; his wit and perception; and his remarkable ability to create enduring messages on an ephemeral canvas.

About the Author:

Alessandra Mattanza is a foreign correspondent, contributor, and editor for several publishers in Italy and Germany. Her previous books are Street Art: Famous Artists Talk About Their Vision, Women Street Artists, and Banksy. She lives in New York.

The most wide-ranging and up-to-date volume available on the enigmatic and controversial graffiti artist, this deeply researched and highly personal tribute explores how Banksy continues to defy accepted wisdom about artistic success, growing only more famous and powerful even as he sticks to his anti-establishment platform and to his mission to give a voice to the voiceless.

Accompanied by stunning full-page, full-color reproductions and photographs of works in situ — including many that have been lost to time — photographer and street art expert Alessandra Mattanza’s impassioned and informed text follows Banksy’s career trajectory from creator of message-laden stencils on London’s city walls to a sought-after champion of human and environmental rights. She investigates many of the key images that populate Banksy’s work — animals, children, historic figures, balloons, cartoon characters, police officers, and others. She shows how Banksy’s oeuvre has expanded beyond graffiti and stenciling and how his art has helped support his activism in a variety of causes — from calls for peace in the Middle East to the preservation of the natural environment. Readers will come away with a new understanding of how Banksy helped transform an illegal act of criminal damage into a high art form, and how, by ridiculing institutionalized art, he has achieved enormous fame within those very institutions.

About the Author:

Alessandra Mattanza is a foreign correspondent, contributor, and editor for several publishers in Italy and Germany. Her previous books are Street Art: Famous Artists Talk About Their Vision, Women Street Artists and Banksy

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