TAKE IT TO THE BANKSY

    If I stepped out my front door one morning and saw that someone had painted some really cool image or comment on the wall of my building overnight, how would I react?

    I think I would be really irritated. The brick façade of my building is kind of stately. Such an uninvited act of art would be a violation of my living space. And it would be costly to remove.

    What if that same artist instead did his or her covert work on the wall of an abandoned building or wall? Well, legally it is still wrong. But let's admit that sometimes it is kind of interesting.

    Street art, or graffiti art is part imagination, part skill, part nerve, part arrogance, and there is a little Robinhoodness thrown in there. I am talking about art here, not gang tagging.

    There are plenty of "stars" in the street art world, but probably the most well-known currently active street artist is known as Banksy. He began in the UK, but now cities all over the world are his canvas.

    Sometimes his works are benign images.

    Sometimes funny.

    Sometimes political.

    Sometimes philosophical.

    Sometimes conceptual.

    Once it is known that Banksy is at work in a city, the hunt begins. Only he and his crew know his true identity, and it drives the authorities and the press crazy.

    The irony is that this artistic outlaw who flaunts his disdain of societal standards, is laughing all the way to the bank. His artistic dangerousness is wildly appealing to the one percenters. Either he is a sellout, or he is following a very brilliant career plan.

    I've got to say that I like the guy's body of work. Just not on my front wall.