Warhol vs. Banksy

Warhol and Banksy  share a gift for subversion and Banksy pays tribute to Warhol in many of his graffiti, i.e the Marilyn-vignette style Kate Moss and the famous Campbell-turned-Tesco value-soup print. Using provoking, illustrative imagery to make bold statements about their world, both Warhol and Banksy have a similar  approach to art.

Both engage with popular culture, aim at the iconic and use methods of mass reproduction as their primary expressive tool. Banksy plays up the link in his Marilyn Monroe-esque portrait of Kate Moss and Cambell's Soup vs. Tesco.

Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 — February 22, 1987) was an American artist who became a central figure in the movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter; an avant-garde filmmaker, a record producer, an author and a public figure known for his presence in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.

A controversial figure during his lifetime (his work was often derided by critics as a hoax or "put-on"), Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books and documentary films since his death in 1987. He is generally acknowledged as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century
 


Banksy is a well-known yet pseudo-anonymous English graffiti artist, possibly named Robert Banks. It is believed that Banksy is a native of Yate, near Bristol,  who was born in 1974, but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and basic personal and biographical details.  The son of a photocopier engineer, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s." His artworks are often satirical pieces of art which encompass topics from politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique, has appeared in London and in cities around the world.