Banksy is a well-known graffiti artist, political activist, filmmaker and painter in the United Kingdom, known for his politically and socially themed works. His career as a graffiti artist began in the early 1990s and he gradually became widely recognized in Bristol as he began performing his distinctive stencil techniques. Most of his works were infamous for controversial subjects such as two policemen kissing, child soldiers, etc. “The Elephant in the Room” is one of his works identified as controversial and the exhibition was emphatically closed by animal officials with public support as it concerned the safety of the real live elephant. The message that Banksy attempted to convey through this art was the English idiom "the elephant in the room" which refers to a controversial social issue that is clearly present but actively avoided and makes everyone uncomfortable discussing it, such as poverty and political hypocrisy. I believe this art is controversial because despite the message it was trying to convey to the public, it encouraged another animal abuse problem and had a huge negative impact on society. Banksy has opened a "barely legal" exhibition in a vandalized warehouse in Los Angeles. Angeles in 2006 and featured a 37-year-old elephant, painted in the same pink and gold floral pattern as the exhibit wall, addressing the world's problem of global poverty. The painted elephant was made to sit at the center of the exhibition, set up like a living room with furniture. Banksy gave people the opportunity to choose to ignore the elephant and pretend not to see the obvious problems, sinking into darkness. Without mentioning anything social or political in art... middle of paper ......sy's contemporary artwork organized in 2006, will present similar reasons why art is considered controversial as in 2006. If Banksy opened another exhibition displaying an animal painting these days in New Zealand, people would consider it controversial and the exhibition would be closed in a short space of time. Most of Banksy's works challenge people and the world. Although nowadays his work has become more acceptable and less influential, it is still identified as a crime and is seen as vandalism. However, we can see that the world is gradually changing and becoming more tolerant. Today, Banksy's graffiti is more accepted by mainstream society as it has become so commercialized and popular globally. The notoriety of Banksy's controversial and denunciatory works of art has already spread throughout the world. http://www.theguardian.com/world/ 2006/sep/19/usa.arts