Everyone’s talking about Banksy! His recent exhibition, Brandalism has placed him in the spotlight of his peers, fans and critics alike. No other graffiti artist has ventured this far into the mainstream and retained their art without selling out. The juries out on whether Banksy will retain this stance or disappear from whence he came, but in the mean time he continues to fill our streets with provocative images that put a smile on your face. Forever aloof with an air of mystery, we caught up with him to see how he likes his new found fame and to ask him about his work, politics and painted cows.

Steal-Life.com - Walls, canvas, cows, website… does the platform matter?
Banksy - They each have their own special merits. I guess in an ideal world you would paint a picture of a cow, spray it on a wall and then post pictures of it on the internet so people can mount it on canvas at home.

SL - Stencilled cows? Inspired! Tell us the story?
Banksy - Branding the old fashioned way

SL - Your stencils are very photographic; do you take a lot of pictures?
Banksy - The vandalism is only half the job. If you want to succeed at graffiti you need to take good pictures

SL - Are underlying social issues something important in your work?
Banksy - The fundamental inequalities inherent in the capitalist system that relies on paying below minimum wage rates to key workers both here and across the world is a source of frustration to me. So is the amount of low cut tops I see wandering round west London in the sun.

SL - How did the exhibition go?
Banksy - I didn't go myself. About six thousand people did though, so they would be the ones to ask.

SL - Are there plans for commercial more work?
Banksy - No more commercial work for at least a year.

SL - Is it a compromise having to take into account other opinions when doing commercial work?
Banksy - I’m very good at not taking other peoples feelings into account. It makes commercial work easy. It makes girlfriends kind of hard.

SL - So what's next then?
Banksy - Illegal street sculptures commemorating people who the council would rather have forgotten.

www.banksy.co.uk