Banksy on artofthestate

Banksy: Welcome To The West Country (photo: banksy.co.uk)

New on Banksy.co.uk. This sign has appeared in the Outside section of Banksy’s website and its installation was shown in a video clip on TV over the weekend as part of Channel 4′s ‘street summer’ programming season. The photo was taken near junction two of the M32 near Bristol – but don’t go looking for the sign. A few people have already been there and have reported it as gone missing. In fact the BBC noted that all this may have happened over 3 months ago according to  Highways Agency officers who say they removed it as part their routine patrols.

Saturday night:

So you’ve probably already seen Exit Through The Gift Shop if you’re reading this blog and maybe you’re not so excited that you’d stay in on a Saturday night to watch it again on TV ‘cos you’ve got it on DVD with the sticker pack, the glasses and everything (unless like me you’ve lent it to your mate who said he’d give it back around Easter but hasn’t quite go round to watching it yet  - AG are you reading this)? Anyway Saturday see’s the premiere of Banksy’s ‘The Antics Roadshow’ film at 10.30pm on Channel 4. From the picture on the Channel 4 website and from Banksy’s own mouth in a 2006 interview with him by Shepard Fairey I’d say it’s highly likely to include amongst others the following impromptu reworking of a British icon.

Banksy: “The most perfect piece of art I saw in recent times was during an anarchist demonstration in London a couple of years ago. Someone cut a strip of turf from the grass in front of Big Ben and put it on the head of the statue of Winston Churchill. Later, the demo turned into a riot, and photos of Winston with a grass Mohican were on the cover of every single British newspaper the next day. It was the most amazing bit of vandalism, because it was the perfect logo for this eco-punk movement that was trying to reclaim the streets, bring an end to global capitalism, and defend the right to sit in a park all day getting wasted on discount lager”.

Enjoy and maybe be a bit inspired….

So I think that I said something like Banksy’s recent “oh no…my tap’s been phoned’ piece was probably in an out of the way place and that maybe the tap wasn’t working ‘cos  it’d probably get left on. Well artofthestate no longer gives out locations for Banksy pieces until they are well known or blindingly obvious but I can report that the tap most definitely is in working order. Shows how much I know. More pictures on artofthestate flickr later.

photo: artofthestate.co.uk

A few TV listings for your consideration this weekend. Either stay in for the curfew on Saturday night or set your recorder if you’re planning on late night shopping in Comet or Currys. All part of Channel 4′s ‘Street Summer’ season for which they’re probably editing the ‘edgy urban’ advertising trailers right now due to other events.

The Antics Roadshow, Saturday 13th on Channel 4, 10.45pm:

“An hour-long special produced by Banksy charting the history of behaving badly in public, from anarchists and activists to attention seeking eccentrics. Contributors include Michael Fagan talking about breaking into the Queen’s bedroom: ‘I looked into her eyes, they were dark’; and Noel Godin, who pioneered attacking celebrities with custard pies: ‘Instead of a bullet I give them a cake’. Explaining his reasoning behind the show, Banksy said: ‘Basically I just thought it was a good name for a TV programme and I’ve been working back from there’. Narrated by Kathy Burke and produced by Jamie D’cruz, The Antics Roadshow examines the stories behind some of the most audacious stunts of recent times and what motivates the perpetrators, from mindless boredom to heartfelt political beliefs. It includes a world exclusive first interview with the man responsible for putting the turf Mohican on Winston Churchill’s head”.

Exit Through The Gift Shop, Saturday 13th August 9pm, Channel 4

The network airing of Banksy’s first film.

Graffiti Wars, Sunday 14th August, 10.30pm

With Robbo and Banksy’s feud (if you read the last line of Channel 4′s write up below you should know that Robbo is in a very grave condition at present far more serious than this ‘graffiti war’).

“Graffiti – the work of mindless vandals or creative practitioners? To some it is art, to others a sign we’ve lost control of our cities.

Since Roman times graffiti has been a form of anti-establishment rebellion. But today it’s transcending social nuisance to gain cultural and artistic credibility, unprecedented prices at auction and even presidential and prime ministerial approval.

However, at street level a bitter war is being waged between graffiti writers, street artists and the authorities. While graffiti writers face trial and prison sentences for their art, some street artists’ work is lauded and protected behind Perspex.

This issue is at the heart of a graffiti war being fought on the streets of London between one of the founding fathers of the British graffiti scene and the most famous street artist in the world.

In London over the past 18 months the tension between the camps has played out in a battle of spray cans between freehand graffiti writer King Robbo and his nemesis, the stencil-using street artist Banksy.

The graffiti war between the two men began in the early 90s but was re-ignited by what was widely seen as an unforgiveable transgression of strict graffiti rules by Banksy.

It was an act that pulled 80s legend King Robbo out of retirement to retaliate in the place where it all began, the streets.

The film goes behind enemy lines as the war escalates, until tragic and unforeseen circumstances bring about an unexpected ceasefire”

Brinngg! Brinngg! Oh no…my tap’s been phoned (photo: banksy.co.uk)

With a history stretching as far back as the early days in Bristol Banksy’s stick figure makes another appearance with a bit of fun referencing the recent phone tapping scandals. The location of this piece is not known to date. Is it on the street? Well it is in the outdoors section of his website but taps on the side of buildings accessible to the public are rare unless they’re out of the way a bit, for use by the public or not working!

Below are a few previous outings for Banksy’s stick figures at the Bristol Museum in 2009 and West London in 2006.

Banksy – You have got to be kidding me (photo: artofthestate)

Banksy: He’s just crap at drawing flowers (photo:artofthestate) 

Banksy: Graffiti Removal Hotline, West London (photo: artofthestate)

“If Banksy Can…So Can We, Trackside Graffiti (photo: artofthestate).

So the logic goes something like this…

Graffiti writer Tox writes his name on walls and gets 27 months of custodial sentence.

Banksy writes Tox on a wall and it gets perspex and cctv protection.

Banksy’s Tox piece under Perspex. And no, that copper isn’t recording evidence… (photo: artofthestate)

The difference between them both is apparently artistic according to prosecutor Hugo Lodge who said of Tox “He is no Banksy. He doesn’t have the artistic skills”. Quite what that’s got to do with anything I don’t know. Right now I can’t think of any other case of criminal damage that gets decided on artistic merit. Maybe if I was to smash up a bus shelter window and then sweep the glass up into the shape of a dove I’d get away with it? Or maybe not.

The real difference between them both to the powers that be is more likely ultimately all to do with the folding stuff. When Banksy spray paints a wall the owner is often told it’s worth a six figure sum. That means that they’re hardly going to lodge a complaint. Not so with Tox who is best known for his relentless campaign on London’s Underground. He gets over two years in jail.

Tox means something to a lot of people too, just look what support he’s got in the Channel 4 street summer comp: http://www.dontpaniconline.com/street_summer/entry/74 . Why not add your support until we can think of something better to help?. It’ll only get him in the Top 10 for the London area when he gets judged by ‘Channel 4 and the mentor from your area’. C’mon Ser – sort out Tox as number one!

Tox (photo: artofthestate)

Elsewhere there’s been a couple of other bits of Banksy in the news. His gorilla with a mask piece painted way back in 2007 suffered the fate of being painted over last week. At the time it appeared Banksy had been keeping a bit of a low profile – it sort of re-announced his coming out of hiding. The piece was painted over on the instructions of Saeed Ahmed who didn’t appreciate its significance until lots of locals told him that the graffiti on the side of his newly acquired building wasn’t ‘regular’ graffiti. Oh, and Banksy has reportedly painted Kate Moss’s toilet or something as a wedding gift but I doubt we’ll see any pics of that anytime soon. Maybe check OK or Hello.

Banksy gorilla in Bristol – now painted over (photo: artofthestate)

A couple of new updates have appeared on Banksy.co.uk this morning. Right on the home page, exactly where it should be, is a tribute to Brian Haw who died from lung cancer on the 18^th June. Brian was a veteran campaigner and set up his peace camp in Parliament Square over 10 years ago on the 2^nd June 2001. He and his supporters fought off many challenges to have the camp evicted but successfully retained a presence right opposite the seat of government to remind those inside every time they passed by of the human cost of their actions. Banksy donated a couple of large canvases to sit with all the other placards back in 2005/6, one at least of which was famously removed by the Police during an operation that scaled down the size of the protest.

Banksy canvas at the peace camp, Parliament Square, 2006 (photo artofthestate)

Elsewhere on the site there is a new street piece featuring a young boy, identity protected, creating bubble letters spelling ‘Tox’. I don’t know where it is yet so please don’t ask! Tox is famous as one of London’s most prolific graffiti tags and the subject of an ongoing court case.  Sentencing is due on 1^st July with the suspect having already spent 150 days inside.

Tox and 10Foot, West London (photo artofthestate)

The difference in sentencing for those who order others to kill and those who paint on things remains ridiculously obscene.

Last night I decided to pop my head round the door of the Andipa Gallery in Kensington to have a look at the preview of the Banksy / War Boutique exhibition. I should point out right away that to my knowledge this exhibition is not supported by Banksy in any way, a fact the gallery has had no problem in making clear in their advertising. What it comprises is a show of Banksy works sourced by Andipa on the secondary market along with original works from War Boutique.

The Banksy works on display are a bit of a mixture. There’s a couple of more recent pieces but much of it appears to be relatively early work, some of which looks like it was never intended to be displayed in a gallery in this way. While its not really the best way to get an appreciation of his current output it is pretty much the only Banksy gig in town at the present time and I know a lot of people visiting London like to see work in the flesh. It’s free to get in and the gallery have never been anything other than friendly despite it being pretty obvious I’m not there to buy anything (the prices will probably make you lose a little bit of control over your bottom jaw). They also don’t mind you snapping away unlike quite a few other galleries I could mention. So here’s few snaps from last night.

Downstairs there’s an accompanying exhibition by War Boutique who specialise in re-workings of items such as stab proof vests and protective military clothing all redesigned to suit modern urban living. So we get a city worker in pin striped body armour and a gas mask and school uniforms that include knife proof materials. These are particularly moving when you see the school crest of Walworth Academy whose pupil David Idowu was stabbed to death in a park after being spotted by students from another local school. I understand the point of the work but I don’t think I’d want its constant reminder on my wall. War Boutique have a couple of prints on sale including a tasty one of a tank with a nod to pop art style and a glittery effect. Some of the labels I read indicated that money raised was going to various causes but deep pockets will be required, this is Kensington after all….

Well it looks like a Banksy doesn’t it? I’m a bit late in posting this one. It seems just about every street art blog on the planet has been down to Fitzrovia in London before me this time round but hey, this is a blog about Banksy so I’d still better post some pictures even if you’ve already seen them elsewhere. The text is a play on a well known slogan (substitute ‘voting’ for the word graffiti and you have the original message).

Banksy ’If graffiti changed anything – it would be illegal”, London

I love the paw print in red on the side, its a neat little touch. It’s great to see a Banksy rat again on the streets of London and it reminded me of one from Highbury a good few years back which also had red paint dripping from its paw.

Banksy rat, April 2011

Banksy in Highbury a while back (buffed)

The wall its painted on is pretty flaky and it may not last too long in the current climate so enjoy the sunshine and get down there if you want have a look. There’s a bar opposite too