Banksy is a London based graffiti artist. His real identity and name is unknown to most people including the general public, he does however have art shows and a web site thanks to his manager, photographer Steve Lazarides. His most famous exploits include walking into the Louvre in Paris and hung on a wall a picture he had painted resembling the Mona Lisa but with a yellow smiley face and replacing up to 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut CD, Paris, in 48 different UK record stores with his own cover art and remixes by Danger Mouse. Music tracks were given titles such as "Why am I Famous?", "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?". How Duchamp of him.

See more work by Banksy below:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Banksy is a semi-anonymous artist known as a guerrilla artist due to the anti political nature of his work.

His persona and name remains secret and rumour has it that even his parents believe that he earns a living from being a painter and decorator.

Many of his early works of graffiti or street art began in Bristol, where it is thought he is originally from. However he has gone much farther a field to carry out his art in Germany, the USA and Israel.

A spokeswoman for Banksy said that while he was spray painting one of the large walls in Israel, "The Israeli security forces did shoot in the air threateningly and there were quite a few guns pointed at him."

However Banksy does not appear to be afraid of authorities or establishments. He managed to smuggle his own work into the British Museum, where video footage showed him heavily disguised pinning up a mock cave painting with a trolley on it.

Embarrassingly for the museum committee, the piece stayed up for several days unnoticed. Tate Britain has also received Banksy’s work without invite.

His art often sends out a message, which is political in nature, questioning the ethics and lifestyles of the world we live in. Despite this, his messages are always created in a fun and appealing way. In a poll of 18 to 25-year-olds, Banksy was ranked young adults' third favourite "art hero" after Walt Disney and Peter Kay.

Policemen, children, the elderly, animals and especially rats regularly appear in his street work. A tape recording of “his voice”, which was sent in return to an interviewer’s questions said:

“I love rats, they’ve invaded everywhere from the lowest place in the city to the highest…so maybe they represent the triumph of the little people and the unloved over everything else.”

Banksy’s art work is now worth a considerable amount of money considering eight years ago a student spent £300 on a piece of art work, but in February this year, one piece sold for over $1.8 the equivalent of £921 000.

Laura James

Banksy's pet shop

The British guerrilla artist, Banksy, has revealed his latest piece, but this time his artistic talent takes the form of a pet shop – with a twist. 

Last Friday the pet shop named “the village pet store and charcoal grill”, opened in New York, which perhaps looked like a regular business from the street. However after gazing through the window some noticed the small space in which a monkey and a cheater were restricted.

In outrage a few walked in to complain, but soon discovered that these animals were neither real nor for sale.

The pets displayed are in fact chicken nuggets with legs in the form of those of chicks, pecking at tomato ketchup. There is a CCTV camera leaning over smaller versions of its self, as though it is caring for its young, fish fingers swimming in a fish bowl and hot dogs writhing around with some appearing to be mating.

Animatronics are used too. There is a robotic rabbit wearing pearls and looking into a mirror, as well as a pretend monkey listening to headphones, watching a monkey documentary and making unnerving facial expressions. 

Banksy beliefs

Banksy said in written form that, “New Yorkers don't care about art, they care about pets. So I'm exhibiting them instead."

"I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing."

The New York Times expresses that, “Banksy’s statements, like much of his pranksterish oeuvre, should be taken with a grain of salt. But there’s no denying the show’s attention to comically pointed detail.” 

Where as in contrast the Independent says there is “a serious, philosophical aspect to the work”, in response to the street artist’s comments. 

Another of Banksy’s creatures appears to be a cheater flicking its tail when looked at from behind. However, when observing from the front, it is evident you were looking at a fur coat, shaped cleverly into the back of a cheater.

The exhibition has shortly followed a mural believed to be Banksy’s work also in New York. However, his identity remains secret from the media. He has employed a man to allow customers to view the shop as a free exhibition, which is open until the 31^st October.

by Laura James

Via Wooster

When genius street artist Banksy gets his hands on animatronics and a shop in NY, NY. This is what happens. I like Banksy. He said this apparently:

Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.

—Banksy

Nuggets

Fish Fingers

Sausages (careful ladies, this one is quasi erotic)

Rabbit (now I'm aroused!)

Is this the bit where I give it stars or something?

Ok it's quite good, how about: 42 stars? Happy? Reviewers make your life that much easier. Anyway I hope Banksy doesn't stop the random, street based, "box-breaking", sabotage art, winding up the slave capitalist paradigm. That shit rocks. Look here for more: http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool

~ Lucky Boris Yeltsin Is Dead! (and lucky that bunny's cage is too small for a Russian)

He also did some legal billboards.

This one is probably going to end up as one of my all time favorites.

Banksy a well-Known British street artist is currently making his mark on New York with a series of Legal billboards.

http://www.banksy.co.uk

Banksy is a prominent “international prank artist”. I’m not really sure what that means, but if this little spectacle above is any indication, then I think I’m a fan.

It’s hard to describe the appeal, but it’s jarring in how it takes two entirely “normal” things -- “little chicks eating stuff” and “chicken nuggets and dip” –-  and combines them in a way which is disturbing and interesting all at once. What’s even more crazy: a video of said “chick-gets”.

Same deal with this spray-paint art, which was actually done on the barrier dividing Israeli territory from the Palestinian controlled West Bank. A wall and a picture of a tropical paradise are both normal artistic elements, but combined (and given the context) and it becomes something somewhere between funny and disturbing.

British prankster Banksy, known for his distinctive stencil style street art has set up shop in Manhattan's West Village. 'The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill' is a surreal pet store that features some strange creations. I've heard from people who have stopped by that the pics don't do this place justice so stop by in person if you can.

Instead of pets, you'll see an animatronic rabbit putting on make-up, McDonald's Chicken McNuggets sipping BBQ sauce, and a pair o fishsticks swimming around a fishbowl. More details after the jump.

89 7th Avenue (between West 4th and Bleecker St)
New York City

Open now until 10/31

Check out their pet sausages video below:

-Gnargusto

I absolutely love this kinda things, hope you do as well ;) there are a few amazing pieces of work in here with unique concepts and of course the Bansky style.

Have fun!! ;)

The morning of Sunday, October 12th found me on the subway heading south from Penn Station toward the NYC subway system’s Christopher Street/Sheridan Square Station.  Stories in the media claimed that Banksy had come to Manhattan.  I was determined to track down signs of the passage of this anonymous graffiti artist. 

His spoor wasn’t difficult to find although somewhat different from the usual graffiti murals the artist leaves behind in his passage.  The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, located at 89 Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, a short walk from Sheridan Square, is an installation piece.  Apparently Banksy acquired the store front for the short lived (through October 31st) display.

Two saw horses stood outside ready to provide crowd control on a quiet Sunday with maybe two dozen visitors.  In one store front window display a bunny wearing a pearl necklace sat attentively in front of a dressing table and mirror, filing her nails, while several chicken nuggets with feet pecked away at a take-out container of BBQ sauce.  Nearby a leopard or ocelot cub balanced on a tree limb, its thick tale dangling. 

Stepping inside I was confronted with an animatronic monkey in a cage, its eyes moving and mouth pursing quite realistically, watching a television screen displaying a Discovery Channel show about monkeys.  Fish fillets swam in endless circles in a nearby fishbowl, while hot dogs and other assorted sausages crawled about in glass sided cages. 

Perhaps most interesting was a wall display of sale merchandise, including canned meats and packages of sliced luncheon meats, including one of my favorites, olive loaf. 

What was Banksy up to?  The artist explains in The New York Times:

“I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming,” Banksy said in a statement distributed by a publicist, “but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing.”

No, there were no singing nuggets, just a display that felt more like a high school project, receiving a C+ at best.  Neither street art nor graffiti, Banksy’s pet shop fell far short of the impact made by his British works.  Or is it just me? 

I suddenly realized I had never witnessed any of the artist’s work first hand, always before viewing it through the lens of the media with its hype and commentary.  Is Banksy an artist who cannot exist outside of the media hype?  Whose work has no instrinsic value beyond that granted by fad and fashion?  Food for thought, whether olive loaf or chicken nugget. 

Related MadSilence posts:
Banksy Cleans Up

Related links:
Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip
Banksy Unveils Singing Chicken Nuggets at New York “Pet Supply Shop”
Banksy Rats Now In NYC!

~MadSilence

Das solche Grafitti's durchaus gelungen sein können weiss jeder. Das aber auch Kunsträuber hinter der einen oder anderen Fassade hinterher sind, kann man kaum glauben. In einem Kurzbeitrag, den ich neulich auf 3Sat gesehen habe, wurde über jenes berichtet.

Der Künstler "Banksy" hat sein Atelier hauptsächlich auf den Strassen verschiedener Großstädte verteilt. Einige Stencil's die aus seiner Feder bzw. malerischen Hand stammen, sind samt Putz aus Häuserwänden entfernt worden und jetzt laut "Polylux"(3Sat) auf dem Schwarzmarkt für sage und schreibe bis zu 500.000 Euro zu haben. In meinen Augen das beste was ich in letzter Zeit an Streetart gesehen habe.

Schaut euch selbst einige seiner Werke und Aktionen mal: Banksy

Sonnige Grüße von der Extrawurst

Kumail and I also got to see Of Montreal on Friday, and let me say this about Of Montreal:  I am now totally fine with them selling out their song to Outback, because the show I saw was extremely prop-heavy and crazy and outlandish and paid for with Outback money.  Golden idols that reveal themselves to be dancing ninjas?  Check.  A spinning piece of the stage that reveals scenes of barfights that are frozen in time?  Check.  The lead singer in a priest's outfit split in the back to reveal leopard print underwear?  Check.  A live horse onstage that the lead singer sat on wearing the aforementioned underwear?  Check.  And don't get me wrong, I love this band, but I realize now that they're like GWAR.  Musically, they're not that great.  They're all out of synch with each other, the lead singer can barely sing live, and his voice is slathered in effects, so really, they need to put on a good show.  And they do.  So I was beyond pleased.  But if they ever record an MTV Unplugged, I would maybe skip it.

Saturday we decided to full-on attack the city and started at Central Park.  We worked our way down from there, stopping at Dylan's Candy Bar, which is completely overwhelming, and made Kumail look like this:

We then wandered into a Barney's on the Upper East Side, where Jennifer Hudson was apparently shopping.  I wanted to ask her how the fuck she managed to land a mantreat like Punk, the runner up in I Love New York 2, but I thought that might be rude, so instead we just left.

We continued our walk down the island, and happened upon a Kabbalah Center that was circled with photogs and random people.  We were like "it must be Madonna", and decided to wait around for a few minutes.  We started slowly seeing the place come to life, with large men in suits running around, SUVs being backed up into driveways, etc.  Sure enough, after about 10 minutes, the door opened and motherfucking Madonna herself came out the door and was hustled into her SUV.  I actually teared up.  She is tiny in person, and although I've referenced how pictures of her make her look old and drawn, her face is actually quite gorgeous still.  It was like seeing a smurf, or a unicorn.  She's not supposed to exist on the same plane as everyone else.  But she did, and I saw her.  BOOOOO YA.

We followed that up with seeing Abigail Breslin

in Union Square, looking cute and young and hip, and then going to see Banksy's first commissioned NYC piece.  If you're not familiar with Banksy, go to Web Urbanist and study up, they have an 8-part series reviewing his art.  Anyway, he's opened a pet store in Greenwich Village called The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill that treats items made from animals as if they were pets, like a fur coat crumpled to look like a cheetah, or chicken nuggets eating bird seed.

This blog has a nice little write up about it, (and this picture), and while we were at the pet store we learned that Banksy had put up four more pieces throughout the city, so we decided to go find them!

We only found one.

How fucking cool is this?  You see how huge it is?  That's Kumail and Vivek down underneath it.  The thing was massive.  Hopefully we'll get to go on a scavenger hunt for the rest of them soon.

So if you're wondering where Gynomite has been, she's been recovering.  From a whole lot of awesome.