St. Martin’s Press presents BANKSY The Man Behind the Wall by Will Ellsworth-Jones, the first full-scale account of the street artist Banksy—by the former New York correspondent for the Sunday Times.
Banksy is perhaps the best known living artist. His pieces have fetched millions of dollars at the world’s most prestigious auction houses. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Once viewed as vandalism, his work is now venerated; fans have gone so far as to dismantle the walls that he has painted on and tried to sell them for thousands of dollars.
But for as famous as Banksy is, he is also utterly unknown. His identity is a mystery, he never shows his face in public, never gives interviews except by email. Who is this man? And how has someone who goes to such great lengths to keep himself hidden achieved such great notoriety?
Now, in the first ever full-scale treatment of the artist, reporter Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together the story of Banksy, building up a picture of the man and the world in which he operates. He talks to his friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early, unnoticed days, and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his newfound fame and success.
Stunningly presented and uniquely packaged, Banksy offers an eye-opening glimpse of an enigmatic figure and a riveting account of how a graffiti artist from Bristol became an international icon—and along the way turned the art world upside down.
St. Martin’s Press
2/12/2013
Hardcover
ISBN: 9781250025739
ISBN10: 1250025737
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 336 pages, Two-color interior; includes four-color endpapers and 16-page color insert
http://us.macmillan.com/banksy/WillEllsworthJones#buy-the-book