Street Artist Tyler AKA 'Desi Banksy’ & His Masked ‘Walk of Shame’

The anonymous artist goes by the name Tyler and uses graffiti to speak out on social and political issues.

Masked Dissent and‘Desi Banksy’ Street Artist Tyler in Mumbai

Photo: altered by Quint

Throughout history, art has been a catalyst of socio-political change. It offers a medium to represent experiences and aspirations, to make people aware of issues, and to ask questions. Harnessing the Banksy tradition of art, street artist Tyler has brought ‘Indian Banksy’ to the streets of Mumbai.

Since dissent is met with legal repercussions in the country today, Tyler takes a masked approach to conceal his identity.

Tyler has been challenging the system and society through art since 2015, but he shot to fame in August 2020 with his project called ‘Walk of Shame.’

For a few weeks, the artist asked people on Instagram to vote for public personalities who are spewing hate-filled propaganda in society. The names selected and painted in Tyler’s ‘Walk of Shame’ included Arnab Goswami, Sudhir Chaudhary, Kangana Ranaut, Sambit Patra, and the winner of the polls, Amish Devgan. Even though the ‘Walk of Shame’ was painted over by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), ‘Desi Banksy’ created an impact on Indian society.

Masked Dissent and‘Desi Banksy’ Street Artist Tyler in MumbaiPhoto: Instagram/@tylerstreetart

Masked Dissent and‘Desi Banksy’ Street Artist Tyler in MumbaiPhoto: Instagram/@tylerstreetart

The anonymous artist recently took to Instagram and talked about the graph of his career as a street artist with his last goal of having a solo exhibit. On 14 January he had his first solo exhibit at Method in Kala Ghoda and Bandra which is going to continue till 7th March.