Artist Quotes by Banksy

The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal,

— Banksy

I give away thousands of paintings for free.

— Banksy

Today's art has been cancelled due to police activity.

— Banksy

It's great, I guess, when your paintings are hanging up in a museum.

— Banksy

I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore.

— Banksy

Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums,

— Banksy

I used to tell everyone I met to be an artist… I don't do that any more.

— Banksy

Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.

— Banksy

Graffiti is only dangerous in the mind of three types of people; politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers,

— Banksy

When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires.

— Banksy

As far as I can tell the only thing worth looking at in most museums of art is all the schoolgirls on…

— Banksy

“The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak.”

— Banksy

Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to…

— Banksy

All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?

— Banksy

All graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history. They've been used to start revolutions and to stop wars

— Banksy

I started painting graffiti in the classic New York style of big letters and characters but I was never very good at…

— Banksy

Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey…

— Banksy

Graffiti ultimately wins out over proper art because it becomes part of your city, it' s a tool; "I'll meet you in…

— Banksy

The one thing you can rely on is if you get disturbed halfway through a painting and it looks a bit naff,…

— Banksy

The art world is the biggest joke going. It's a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak. And modern…

— Banksy

Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don't come up with…

— Banksy

I know street art can feel increasingly like the marketing wing of an art career, so I wanted to make some art…

— Banksy

I tell myself I use art to promote dissent, but maybe I am just using dissent to promote my art. I plead…

— Banksy

The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the…

— Banksy

Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums. Graffiti has more chance of meaning something…

— Banksy

“Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fills concert halls and cinemas…

— Banksy

the people who run our cities dont understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a…

— Banksy

I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as 'good at drawing' doesn't sound…

— Banksy

Graffiti's always been a temporary art form. You make your mark and then they scrub it off.

— Banksy

Should # graffiti be judged on the same level as modern art? Of course not: It's way more important than that

— Banksy

If Michaelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci were alive today they’d be making Avatar, not painting a chapel.

— Banksy

I don't think you should have to pay to look at graffiti. You should only pay if you want to get rid…

— Banksy

People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.

— Banksy

There's obviously nothing wrong with selling your art - only an idiot with a trust fund would tell you otherwise. But it's…

— Banksy

It doesn't take much to be a successful artist-all you need to do is dedicate your entire life to it.

— Banksy

I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an anagram of art' and I had to pretend…

— Banksy

Writing graffiti is about the most honest way you can be an artist. It takes no money to do it, you don't…

— Banksy

Painting something that defies the law of the land is good. Painting something that defies the law of the land and the…

— Banksy

Is graffiti art or vandalism? That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don't like…

— Banksy

Traditional graffiti writers have a bunch of rules they like to stick to, and good luck to them, but I didn't become…

— Banksy