They sold out, but hey, they're wealthy and reached that point by doing what they're passionate about.
You mooch off your old lady for a living, but at least you're keeping it real.
to sell out one must have first bought in.
i have no problem with people making the jump from the streets to the galleries. i've got nothing but respect for the likes of barry mcgee and todd james (among others), who both got their start doing squiggles, and are both now making bank. there's a difference between putting in hard yards and getting mainstream recognition, and setting out from the get-go for that same recognition, a la banksy, and doing so on the backs of people who are real and deserve it more. don't use graffiti to market yourself if you were never graffiti. also, banksy is just tracing a path that was already well worn out almost two decades before by blek in paris (
case in point, blek le rat, paris 1981 )
kaws was never much of a writer as far as i'm concerned, and has not created anything worth looking at since. matter of fact, all he does now is draw X's on bape shit and collects cheques. is that really creative? or is the guy just running on auto pilot and capitalisisng on a fad? as for shepard fairey, he's straight ripped off a bunch of designers over the years, and is basically more concerned with being a celebrity dj/fashion designer these days, so who fucking cares.
and i don't mooch off my old lady (yet). currently i'm the sole bread winner in my house. my missus is my retirement plan. she's a monster with a paint brush, and when the world finds out i can kick back and be a kept man. i gots no shame in mah game