Friday 31 October was the last day of the Banksy’s New York project, which ran for a month in Manhattan. The objective of residency was to create a new public work of art each day. The pieces ranged from his popular ‘Spray Art’, Sculpture, to Video, and Installation works. The media frenzy created made international headlines. Some of the pieces were sold by the owners of the property, where they were placed. In one case a group of locals covered the artwork and were charging the public $20 to have a peek at the artwork. On another occasion Banksy set up a stall selling original signed canvases for $60. They were worth $20,000 or more on the open market.
Banksy is an unconventional UK graffiti artist whose work typically includes satirical social and political commentary, and ranges from murals to sculpture and installation, often playing with the contextual aspects of the work. The artist’s first solo show was held in 2002 at Los Angeles’ 33 1/3 Gallery, and in 2003 he was commissioned to design to cover of Blur’s ThinkTank. Today, Banksy’s work appears internationally; most notably, he painted nine sardonic images on the Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier. In Summer 2009, Banksy took over the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with an exhibition attracting over 300,000 visitors and hour-long queues all the way down the road.
Recently the artist has experimented with film, achieving an Oscar nomination for his documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. Consistently controversial, Banksy is described by some as genius and others as a vandal. Regardless of whether he is inspiring admiration or provoking outrage, his name is one that is well-known around the world. His early career, between 1990 and 1994, was that of a traditional freehand graffiti artist in the Bristol underground scene. The stenciling technique for the ‘guerrilla art’ for which he is now better known was first seen around 2000 and is widely thought to have been inspired by Blek le Rat (Xavier Prou), one of the first Parisian graffiti artists who is also known as the ‘Father of Stencil Graffiti.’
An inflatable throw-up on the Long Island Expressway in Queens was the swan song of Banksy’s New York visit. He is thought to be back in the UK.
Thanks for your patience. It’s been fun. Save 5pointz. Bye
Now available – the official Banksy New York residency souvenir T shirt
(you have to take the jpeg to a copy store and make it yourself)
But they declined to publish what I supplied. Which was this…
People ask why I want to have an exhibition in the streets, but have you been to an art gallery recently? They’re full.
Contrary to reports on fox news this space was kindly donated for free by the owner.
A fibreglass replica of Ronald McDonald having his shoes shined by a real live boy. The sculpture will visit the sidewalk outside a different McDonalds every lunchtime for the next week. Today: South Bronx.
Some people criticize me for using sources that are a bit low brow (this quote is from ‘Gladiator’) but you know what? “I’m just going to use that hostility to make me stronger, not weaker” as Kelly Rowland said on the X Factor.
For $60 each.
