If you’re a New Yorker and you haven’t heard of Banksy...well my guess is you’ve been living under a rock for these past few weeks. Banksy, the famous yet elusive British graffiti artist, is putting on a daily performance for the entire month of October. Each day a new piece of art just shows up with much fanfare and excitement of many. Using a distinctive stenciling technique, his public pieces have been auctioned off for millions…so you see the guy has quite a following.
Hammer Boy by Banksy – 79th between Broadway and Amsterdam – Upper West Side
And unfortunately some of his followers seem to be quite jealous of his work. It’s unfortunate that since he began his show on October 1st many of his paintings have already been defaced and ruined. Some owners of the buildings that now have Banksy’s work have gone to great measures to prevent vandalism and preserve the art. Hammer Boy in my neighborhood received a plexiglass sheet, but unfortunately it didn’t stop the jealousy.
Check out his daily show so far here. Loved what he did on October 13th. He set up a stall in Central Park selling 100% authentic original Banksy canvases for $60. The video posted is a hoot. OMG, the joke was clearly on us. It’s estimated that the street-stall art pieces could be worth as much as $31,000. Whether you like his work or not, we have ten more days to see what else he comes up with across our five boroughs! Bring it on Banksy…most of us love you!!
And while we’re on the subject of graffiti aka street art…
stay tuned for my next post on my visit to 5 Pointz in Long Island City!
Fantastic! It made the news here too, I’d love to have seen him……X
So cool!! I’m a big fan of his fun work. Thanks for sharing..
Mr Banksy. What a figure of legend he is
LOVE it!!! Thanks for sharing… XoXo
New York has always a story to tell and do I can’t wait to see you back in AZ 🙂
Ohhhhhh, Robin. You are so dang lucky!!! All I ever wanted was a shoulder to crayon. I LOVE Banksky and know many followers at our SC site/blog. Remember this one on our cruise in Passau, Germany (we’re sure it’s a Banksky): http://ginniehart.shutterchance.com/image/2013/04/22/together-were-strong/
I see it’s a Banksy…not a Banksky (spell-check not on). HA!
It seems to me that I read about Banksy a few weeks ago in an interview with a Czech graffiti artist, so his name and work sounds familiar to me. I like the Japanese ladies on the “bridge” from October 17… You may find interesting the experience of the owners of the house where the spraying was performed (if you haven’t read it yet): http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/im-the-accidental-owner-of-a-banksy.html
I’m not into street art, Robin, probably because many pieces of this art resemble rather vandalism than the art itself. Yet I find it interesting to watch this story. I loved the stall because if there was the author’s name displayed, people might have been buying the pictures just for the name, this way, though the canvases were signed, he was just one of many.
Thanks everyone for your comments! I must say that Banksy has most definitely kept things interesting on the streets of New York this month!
Another great post! I will definitely keep a lookout for Mr. Banksy, too!
I’d love to be chasing Banksy around NYC. Fab to see his art anywhere!
Excellent! You caught it!
The good news now is that someone was able to remove the writing from the Banksy hater…or perhaps shall we say a Banksy wannabe. Yeah!
I read a lot about Banksy in NYC, and lioved it (especially the video) – but knowing that he had been around your hood made me get goose bumps! Great pictures, thanks …