Uncover the Mystery of Famous Graffiti Artist with Professor Paul Gough 

Named by TIME magazine among the “100 most influential people in the world” alongside Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and Lady Gaga, Banksy, the famous graffiti artist, remains an enigma after two decades of creation.  

What turns an anonymous artist into a global icon whose influence reshaped street art, and why do millions of people worldwide still follow someone they have yet to see? 

These questions were answered by Professor Paul Gough at the public talk “Banksy: From Rebellion to Global Icon”, hosted by the School of Communications & Creative Industries (SoCCI) at BUV. Professor Gough is an artist-academician of the Royal West of England Academy and he has spent over a decade researching Banksy and working directly with his team.  

Prof Paul Gough has written 11 books on art history and visual culture 

The event drew many BUV students and art fans, exploring how Banksy uses creativity, satire and social responsibility to shatter traditional art boundaries.  

Professor Rick Bennett, Vice President & Vide Deputy Chancellor of BUV, shared at the event 

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Professor Paul Gough to BUV and to invite him to present to us all on Banksy. This session not only deepens our connection between BUV and the creative community in Bristol, the home to Banksy’s early artistic journey, but also brings our students closer to the value of creativity and global art culture,” said Professor Rick Bennett. 

From Bristol streets to the global icon   

Professor Gough began by tracing Banksy’s story back to Bristol, where graffiti was once dismissed as vandalism. No one knows who he is, but his artworks appear everywhere, from old Bristol streets and the wall in Palestine to top museums around the world.   

In a world crazy for fame, Banksy gets famous by staying hidden. That secret identity is his “mask” that allows him to touch on hot topics most artists avoid. Banksy’s style was simple black and white, sometimes hit with a splash of red or brown to capture the sense of humour and rebellion. 

His signature lies in stencil, which is a technique of spraying paint through cut-out shapes to create sharp, graphic images. Once considered “low art” due to its industrial roots, he transformed it into a global artistic language. “He took a technique people saw as cheap art and turned it into something huge worldwide,” Prof Gough added.   

Prof Gough unpacked Banksy’s signature stencil technique 

Beyond style, stencil art allows Banksy to create numerous artworks and disappear within minutes, therefore keeping his anonymity.  

This transformation of an underestimated method into a global artistic language has delivered a powerful message to BUV students: even technique limits can become the source of creative power. 

The public talk drew many students and art enthusiasts  

Art belongs to everyone 

Every time a new Banksy artwork appears on a wall, crowds rush over to see it, snap pics and share online, turning it into a real community event. He mixes simple images with big ideas, always tied to the exact time and place, so it feels like you’re part of something, not just looking at a picture. “Banksy doesn’t do marketing. The crowd does it for him,” said Prof Gough.  

For Banksy, the audience completes the artwork by reacting, involving and posting. That’s what makes his work feel alive and reach way beyond gallery walls. 

He doesn’t just make iconic pieces. In 2020, he bought an old French navy boat to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, painted it pink and named it Louise Michel after a feminist and human rights advocate.  

A paradox of rebellion and business  

Despite working outside the law, Banksy has built one of the most sophisticated business models in the art world. “He hates all three A’s: Art galleries, Auction houses, and Academics,” Gough remarked with a smile. Banksy once trolled the system: right after Girl with Balloon sold for over $1.4 million at Sotheby’s, it shredded itself in front of everyone. But that stunt? It doubled the price. 

Still, while Banksy fights turning art into cash, he’s smart about it. He controls his rights and prices. He runs his own system, selling limited prints with official certificates to prove they’re real and worth collecting. 

Banksy built his own market so rebellious art still has value without losing its freedom or message. That’s the coolest twist in his career, and a big lesson for young creatives: you can be creative and smart about business if you know your own worth. 

Beyond unveiling the mystery of Banksy, Professor Gough’s lecture opened a conversation about creativity, independence, and social conscience. 

This is the first public talk organised in Vietnam about Banksy and contemporary street art, giving students a chance to engage and learn from to a world-leading scholar. It doubled as a valuable hands-on learning experience, as Film and Media Production students from SoCCI undertook their first group documentation project by filming the event from multiple perspectives.