Ellsworth Jones, Will : Banksy - The Man Behind The Wall

Banksy, like graffiti and street art in general, often inspires impassioned reactions and fervent opinions. His artwork, speaking for itself as it so easily does, is seen either as mindless vandalism and wanton destruction of property or as creative expression and paint-based sociopolitical commentary. To many he is a countercultural figure or anti-authoritarian folk hero, yet to others he is just another malcontented urban hoodlum. Regardless of your feelings on graffiti, there is no denying the Bristol-bred bloke's effects on street art and the international art scene.

The pseudonymous Banksy notoriously eschews the media and very seldom grants interviews (and when he does, they are often conducted by email), so it is of no surprise that Will Ellsworth-Jones's Banksy: The Man behind the Wall is an entirely unauthorized affair. Ellsworth-Jones paints as interesting a portrait of the iconoclastic artist as could likely be done, given that he doesn't have any reliably confirmed biographical background with which to sketch his subject. Nonetheless, Banksy is a well-researched, comprehensive look into the essence of the street artist himself, as well as his art and commercial success.