Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall

British journalist Ellsworth-Jones (We Will Not Fight…) here profiles the elusive Banksy, a street artist who fiercely defends what's left of his anonymity and credentials as an outsider. Ellsworth-Jones does a superb job of threading his way through the fascinating world of street and outsider art, asking all the important questions that arise when the art world, social commentary, questions of what is public vs. private, and—most important—commerce, collide. What does it tell us about the state of the art world when a self-proclaimed vandal and prankster who became famous for stenciling on public walls and surreptitiously adding his own work to famous museums, suddenly commands six figures for his work, produces an Oscar-nominated documentary about an eccentric camera buff (who originally claimed to be making a documentary about him), and needs a sophisticated organization to protect and provide authentication for pieces previously regarded as defacement of public property? Banksy's work is competent, clever, thought-provoking, and accessible.