Banksy said copyright is for losers

If someone asked you what Barcelona, Brussels, Paris, Prague and Rome have in common you could come up with many answers but probably not this one.

Graffiti artist Banksy ‘museums’

Very simply each of those capital cities boasts a World of Banksy ‘museum’ and  they proudly boast that “In the spirit of Banksy’s famously known claim that “Copyright is for losers”, our exhibitions are proudly and openly “100 per cent unauthorized” and have been organised entirely without his involvement.”

Banksy of course is a British graffiti artist, who is considered one of the main representatives of contemporary street art. His works, often satirical, address universal issues such as politics, culture or ethics.

His work pops up all over the place, mainly in the UK but he has worked under-cover in many countries and cities including Bethlehem, Calais, Chicago, Jerusalem, Kyiv, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Paris.

His work is worth millions

The main irony is that although his work tends to be anti-establishment, he has been adopted by the art world, meaning his work is worth a fortune and even the famous shredded artwork at the infamous Sotheby sale which sold for just over £1 million in 2018 was resold in 2021 for more than £18.5 million.

People fight over the right to remove his graffiti from walls not because they are opposed to graffiti but because they know how much it is going to be worth.

Each of the World of Banksy exhibitions has more than 100 copies of his work, often recreated by other street artists and there are regular pop-up shows in other cities such as Berlin, there is an ongoing tour of his copied work in the USA and iBANKSY is a video examination of his work.

Modern icon

A true modern icon whose work captures the imagination.