UPDATED - Banksy’s Tuesday October 22th the Sphinx in the Bronx

 Street artist Banksy stayed another day in the Bronx,

He writes on his blog:

"No turn unstoned. A 1/36 scale replica of the great Sphinx of Giza made from smashed cinderblocks.You're advised not to drink the replica Arab spring water."

The New York post reports:

The three-foot-tall monument is standing guard outside a lot full of concrete blocks and cargo containers, its gaze fixed directly on the Mets’ Citi Field stadium about a block away.

And unlike Banksy’s other street-side works — most of which have been attacked by vandals — this one is surrounded by a 25-foot-wide moat of fetid water that’s more than an ankle deep, one of several large puddles along 127th Street.

The base of the sculpture appears to have been built from junk littering the area, with the face made of cement.

Bernardo Veles, who owns a nearby auto-glass shop, said the the masonry material was still wet when he touched it around 7 a.m.

“When I left last night, just after 9, there was nothing.  Just a big empty puddle,” said Veles, 27.

“At 6 this morning, my guys saw it and asked me what it was.  There are no marks, no truck pulled into the water.  Someone carried in the stone and built it piece by piece.”

“This place is empty at night, like a ghost town” he added.

“I am one of the last guys around and I leave at 8 or 9 every night. He must have done it in the middle of the night.”

Wikipedia tells us: `The Great Sphinx of Giza (Arabic: أبو الهول‎ Abū al Hūl, English: The Terrifying One), commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.'

"No turn unstoned"

"to leave no turn unstoned" is a spoonerism. A spoonerism is an error in speech, or deliberate play on words, in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase. In this case, a play on `leave no stone unturned' -(which is interesting phrase for Banksy to play with, since so many in New York are searching in all possible places for his work.)

 While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they can also be used intentionally as a  a deliberate play on words.

This particular spoonerism "to leave no turn unstoned" was used by the multi-talented Irish playwrite George Bernard Shaw  who wrote "A dramatic critic is a man who leaves no turn unstoned" ( which could be reduced to "A critic is a man who leaves no turn unstoned"; meaning- critics will have something negative to say about everything).

This would be a way for Banksy to say that he understands that those critical of his work (such as Mayor Bloomberg) will be critical no matter what form his work takes.

Bloomberg commented about Banksy saying: "Art is art, and nobody's a bigger supporter of the arts than I am. I just think there are some places for art and there are some places [not for] art. And you running up to somebody’s property or public property and defacing it is not my definition of art. Or it may be art, but it should not be permitted."

UPDATE----------------------------------------------------------->

Hours after Banksy's sculpture was announced, the piece got loaded into the back of a giant moving truck, and taken away.

Banksy’s Monday October 21th South Bronx

Street artist Banksy is spending a month in New York putting up graffiti art and staging `scenes'  for his show entitled Better Out Than In. 

Banksy paid a visit to the South Bronx for today's work.

The stencil plays on what appears to be existing graffiti, which reads "Ghetto 4 Life." Banksy added a young spray-painter and his butler. This picture may be taken to be a bit of self deprecation.

Banksy has come under criticism from other graffiti artist, some whom claim that he sold out by selling his work in the `art market' where prints have sold for upwards of $500,000 at auctions (including a work titled "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit") and original works have sold for well over a million dollars.  Many critics assume that the once poor Banksy is now rich. This has prompted anti- Banksy signs to pop up around New York:

Though other graffiti artist have added their tags to the wall after Banksy's work.

Within hours work men were photographed measuring the new Monday October 21th Banksy' picture in preparation for a plexiglass cover to protect the work.

This is the second time Banksy has struck the South Bronx. Last week Banksy's his traveling fiberglass Ronald McDonald statue, and shoe-shine boy were in the neighborhood.

Banksy’s Sunday October 20th Upper West Side New York {UPDATED}

Though initial attacks on @Banksy's work was rebuffed by onlookers- by evening it was covered in plexiglass. The some time in the night the piece was tagged with the phrase "Let the Streets Decide".

Lucky visitors on Sunday did get to `experience' the United Kingdom-based graffiti artist's work.

Banksy is spending a month in New York putting up graffiti art and staging `scenes'  for his show entitled Better Out Than In. 

While many street art enthusiasts have welcomed the graffiti art, New York city Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he does not consider the work art and the illegal activity 'should not be permitted'. At the same time Rival graffiti artists, angered by a new presence on their 'turf', have raced to destroy the works.

The elusive art of the elusive artist Bansky in the news

Bansky as he appeared in his documentary

It has been said, sometimes smugly, by some street artist that if the public doesn't like their art (graffiti) then they can just paint over it. The situation is more true if the graffiti art is painted on private property.

This year there are two interesting stories about the street artist Banksky's work painted on private property. 

Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. He has dozens of celebrity collectors - including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera - who have paid hundreds of thousands  for his creations.

Wikkepedia writes:

"Banksy began as a freehand graffiti artist 1992–1994[13] as one of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), with Kato and Tes.[14] He was inspired by local artists and his work was part of the larger Bristol underground scene with Nick Walker, Inkie and 3D.[15][16] From the start he used stencils as elements of his freehand pieces, too.[13] By 2000 he had turned to the art of stencilling after realizing how much less time it took to complete a piece. He claims he changed to stenciling whilst he was hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, when he noticed the stenciled serial number[17] and by employing this technique, he soon became more widely noticed for his art around Bristol and London.[17]

Banksy wrote in his glossy coffee-table book Wall and Piece : “The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface but you’re never allowed to answer back. Well, they started the fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back.”

Many consider him, his name at least, as the best know street artist of all time. His fame has increased dramatically with his documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop,"

 In 2006 Banksy was introduced to Thierry Guetta, an exuberant, eccentric French expatriot claiming to be making a documentary about street artist. Banksy joins in on the project, but is greatlly dissapointed with the final results. Banksy decides to take over the editing of the project from Guetta and brings in two proffesionals Jamie D'Cruz and Chris King, as producer and editor. They went through thousnads of hours of  Guetta's unlabeled film, much of it unuasable. Guetta, not detered by his freinds rejection of his editing of the material, returns home to Los Angeles to begin making art himself. Banksy comes up with the idea to shift the focus from street artist to focus on Guetta.

The resulting documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop", list Banksy as it's director. The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, holding 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for Best Documentary in the 2011 Academy Awards. One consistent theme in the reviews was the authenticity of the film: Was the film just an elaborate ruse on Banksy's part, The Boston Globe movie reviewer Ty Burr found it to be quite entertaining and awarded it four stars. He dismissed the notion of the film being a "put on" saying "I’m not buying it; for one thing, this story’s too good, too weirdly rich, to be made up. For another, the movie’s gently amused scorn lands on everyone."

Still not everyone know who Banksy is: Banksy's gorilla in a pink mask (July 2011)

Banksy's gorilla in a pink mask appeared on the wall of the former North Bristol Social Club in Eastville One of street artist Banksy's most famous early works in Bristol has been mistakenly painted over.

The gorilla in a pink mask on the wall of the ex-North Bristol Social Club, in Eastville, had been a familiar landmark in the area for more than 10 years.

But the building has recently been turned into a Muslim cultural centre.

New owner Saeed Ahmed assumed it was a regular piece of graffiti and had it painted over. "I thought it was worthless," he said.

He added: "I didn't know it was valuable and that's why I painted over it. I really am sorry if people are upset."

The wall was whitewashed by the new owner of the building who had never heard of Banksy.

A paintings conservator, Richard Pelter of Park Street-based International Fine Art Conservation Studios, was last night attempting to remove the whitewash using large cotton buds and sensitive cleaning materials.

Mr Pelter said he had been doing some tests.

"What I found was that the paint there was quite soluble underneath, but no-one could actually tell me where it was on the wall. The upper layers of paint can be removed, very carefully. It would take quite a long time and cost quite a bit of money to do it."

The gorilla was uncovered, maybe not the best idea.

Every Picture Tells a Lie -uncovered (September 2011)

In 2003 Banksy spray painted a mural inside, on the wall of  a contemporary art gallery in Germany's capital. The graffiti shows five soldiers with angel's wings and yellow smiley faces beneath the slogan "Every picture tells a lie!"

When the show was over the picture was painted over.

Now the covering paint has been removed. The mural was excavated as part of an art project by Brad Downey, a Berlin-based American artist, whose exhibition is titled What Lies Beneath and focuses on layers of paint. Downey, who also took part in the 2003 exhibit, remembered Banksy's work and wanted to uncover it for his 2011 project.

The gallery is unsure of what will happen to Banksy's work once Downey's exhibit ends on Oct 23rd. It could go back to hibernating behind white-washed walls -- that is, if someone doesn't try to buy it first.

Hilarious 'Do Not Enter' Series By One Of the Finest Street Artists-'Dan Witz'

Hilarious 'Do Not Enter' Series By One Of the Finest Street Artists-'Dan Witz'

 Dann Witz is a Brooklyn, US based street artist and a realist painter who has been creating explicit works of art since the 1970s. Each of his creations look realistic and you'll definitely give a second look to his confusing creations. The give a look as if a real person is staring or peeping out of them. His work has been showcased throughout the US and Europe. Not only that, he has authored 18 books and taken part in many films.

"As an art student, right out of the gate, rebellion was my default setting. The idea was, if the world was a fucked up place that desperately needed changing, and contemporary art (and art schooling) had failed us in this respect, then it became necessary to subvert current art practices—to, yes, destroy our idols. Taking my cue from punk rock and graffiti I abandoned conventional art making and took to the streets", saysthe artist. Though all of his projects are awesome but I found 'Do Not Enter' project the best and I have some hilarious images of that project to share with you guys. Check them out!

Hat tip to http://www.e-junkie.info

Update: Updated: "Obama Hope" artist Separd Fairey pleads Guilty

The street artist Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obama "Hope" poster, has cut a deal with Boston prosecutors. In February Boston police arrested Fairey as he was on his way to DJ at a party to mark the opening of his big show at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art, which runs through Aug. 16. He was later hit with multiple charges of vandalism, though many of them were subsequently dropped for lack of evidence. There didn't seem to be much to prove that it was Fairey who had pasted up the Fairey stickers that constituted the offending acts in those charges, since those stickers are available to anybody over the Internet.

But Fairey has now pleaded guilty to three of the charges, been sentenced to probation and agreed to pay $2000 to a graffiti removal group. In exchange prosecutors have agreed to drop 11 remaining charges.

Fairey will be headed back to the Boston ICA on July 31 to DJ at a replay of that party he never got to attend, but tickets are already sold out.


"Obama Hope" artist Separd Fairey Arrested"

Obama 'Hope' poster artist arrested in Boston

By Milton J. Valencia and Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff | February 7, 2009

Shepard Fairey, the controversial street artist riding a roller coaster of publicity with his red, white, and blue posters of President Barack Obama, was arrested last night on his way to DJ an event kicking off his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Fairey, a 38-year-old known for his countercultural style, was arrested on two outstanding warrants and was being held at a police station, according to a police official with knowledge of the arrest who requested anonymity.

Police could not describe the nature of the outstanding warrants last night, but said they were based in Massachusetts.

Fairey has been arrested at least 14 times, he has told the Globe.

The artist was arrested at about 9:15 p.m. as he was about to enter a sold-out dance event at the Institute of Contemporary Art on Northern Avenue, known as "Experiment Night." The event is geared toward a younger-age crowd, with techno-style music, and more than 750 people were waiting for him, some of whom had bought tickets for the event on Craigslist for as much as $500.

Fairey was supposed to appear as a guest DJ for the kickoff of his exhibit, Supply and Demand, which will run through Aug. 16. He was scheduled to go on stage at about 10:30 p.m., and an hour later organizers reported to the crowd that he was arrested.

"We're very disappointed," said Paul Bessire, deputy director of the Institute of Contemporary Art.

"Shepard Fairey is a wonderful artist who created some positive work and we were very pleased to present his work here and around the city. We feel he is an influential artist."

Fairey, a street artist, graphic designer, and political activist, is best known for his "Obey Giant" campaign of stickers, stencils, and posters in the early 1990s.

Most recently, he has achieved fame with the red, white, and blue posters of Obama, emblazoned with the words "Hope," "Progress," and "Change."

The president used the posters during his campaign, and one of the displays in Fairey's exhibit includes a typed letter from Obama that read: "I am privileged to be a part of your art work and proud to have your support."

Fairey was recently seen with Mayor Thomas M. Menino in an event to promote his show, and banners raised at City Hall also announce the exhibit.

At the same time, however, anti-graffiti activists complained that a street artist was going to be the subject of a museum show.

But Bessire said, "We feel he is an influential artist. We were just very pleased and felt fortunate to show his work."

The arrest of Fairey -- who cites linguistic theorist Noam Chomsky with a poster that reads, "I lived with the system and took no offence/until Chomsky lent me the necessary sense" -- helped maintain his counterculture reputation.

"I wouldn't say it's cool he was arrested, but I think it shows he has integrity," said Bill Galligan, a graphic designer. Some in the crowd last night speculated the incident may have been a publicity stunt.

Ginny Delany, a 27-year-old graduate student from Cambridge, said, "It makes him even more of a hero to me.

"The fact that he is arrested for his art shows that it is meaningful tohim and he cares about what he is doing."

David Rosen, a 19-year-old from Allston, said last night that he was disappointed with the arrest, but "I understand that his art requires him to take risks."

Christopher Muther of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Previously

Shepard Fairey once outlaw Artist now in National Gallery

Iconic Obama Artwork Finds a Home

January 18, 2009 2:12 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports:

The iconic image of President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign is now on display permanently at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The original painting, by Los Angeles artist Shepard Fairey, was unveiled yesterday –- and now hangs in the “New Arrivals” section for the many visitors in the district during inauguration to see.

Fairey’s red, white and blue portrait collage with Obama’s face over the word “hope” was reprinted in mass quantities, donning campaign shirts, posters, hats, buttons and stickers throughout the campaign.

The painting was a gift to the Portrait Gallery of Tony and Heather Podesta.

This weekend’s inauguration festivities are bringing Obama fans to the museum in droves. Museum staffers say crowd control has been an issue in the less-than-24 hours the artwork has been on display. They have set up a black rope in the middle of the aisle, creating two lines to view the picture. Police officers hustle viewers to move quickly after snapping a quick picture.

After being hung in a temporary gallery within the museum the portrait will find a home in the permanent display.

-- Sunlen Miller

Graffiti drain survivor: 'I wish I had died'

THE sole survivor of Sydney's double drain-drowning yesterday said he would "gladly trade places" with his two dead friends.

Graphic arts student Holly Legge, 21, from St Peters, and her friend Dwane Larosa, 25, from Pennant Hills, drowned after being dragged almost a kilometre by floodwaters rushing through the stormwater drain where they had gathered to drink and spray graffiti.

Michal Malinowski, 27, who was with the pair, was swept out to Lurline Bay, where he was rescued. Yesterday Mr Malinowski, the owner of Newtown spray-painting business Five Six Seven King, said he "deeply regretted" the events of Sunday night.s one of the largest suppliers of spray paint to street artists and taggers in Sydney.

Tragedy ... a photo of the victim Dwane Larosa is left on a post near the scene of his death. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Speaking from his family's Pennant Hills home, Mr Malinowski's brother Adam read from a prepared statement.

"As you can imagine, he is in deep shock after the dramatic and tragic experience that took the lives of two of his friends and almost his own," he said. "He deeply regrets the whole event and would gladly turn back the clock and trade places with them if he possibly could.

"Michal feels deeply for the family, friends and loved ones of Holly and Dwane. He cannot understand why he survived and they did not."

Michael Gustav Malinowski, 27, the owner of paint supply shop Five Six Seven on King Street, Newtown, is one of the largest suppliers of spray paint to street artists and taggers in Sydney.Mr Malinowski's shop has remained closed since the accident.

He was interviewed by detectives from Maroubra police late yesterday but no decision has been made on whether he will be charged. Graffiti squad police confirmed yesterday that Mr La Rossa was known to the unit, with past offenses ranging from drugs, goods in custody and assault.

Witnesses at the scene of the double drowning said Mr Malinowski had become distraught and threatened to throw himself back into the water when he realised his two friends had not made it out alive.

Adam Malinowski said his brother was still suffering greatly. Adam , who said he too was close friends with Mr Legge and Mr La Rossa, fought to hold back tears when he said the group were "artists" and not part of the Sydney Cave Clan, a group that explore tunnels. "The graffiti they were doing [inside the drainage outlet] was true art. It was like a mural.

"It just happened that they chose to do it at the wrong place, wrong time. It just happened in an instant. [Michael said] there was a big sound … like thunder. He's probably thinking why was he the only one to survive."

"He is still traumatized, he is still grieving over the loss of his two friends and has had some counseling. It is the first time that someone close to Michael has died, so he is feeling terrible. You just can't imagine how the families are feeling," Adam Malinowski said.

"At the moment, he is under the care of a professional counselor while he comes to terms with his harrowing experience and is not in any condition to talk personally as the shock and trauma have set in deeply."

Sunday's disastrous venture follows encounters with the law by Michael Malinowski that included an unsuccessful attempt by police to close his Newtown paint shop or restrict the types of sprays he could sell.

On April 4, 2006, he was arrested while painting on a wall of the M2 Motorway at Beecroft. He was convicted, fined $400 and ordered to pay $67 court costs.

On December 12, 2006, he was convicted for selling spray paint to a minor, fined $650 and also ordered to pay $67 court costs.

In an interview with The Sun-Herald after his shop opened in 2005, Michael Malinowski said he was determined to educate the area's youth about the do's and don'ts of "street art".

He was responding to concerns that his business would become a one-stop shop for vandals.

But he said: "There will always be a minority who do the wrong thing, who would probably do the wrong thing if the shop was here or not … it's our responsibility to try to educate people to use these products for art and not vandalism."

After his conviction for vandalizing the M2 wall he said: "I pleaded guilty because I did the wrong thing. I don't really want to say any more. I'd prefer it if you didn't write anything. This shop is my livelihood."

The Premier, Morris Iemma, said yesterday he saw no need for Sydney Water to remove maps of tunnels and drains from its website despite the tragedy.

Mr Iemma said Sydney Water was working with police in investigations into the incident but said staying out of drains should be a matter of simple common sense.

"Regardless of where you get the information from, whether you access it from the web, whether you get it from the newspaper or whether you just get it by driving around, these are not places for you to be," Mr Iemma said.

"It is in the territory of personal responsibility.

"Whether it's a drain or a train, graffiti can lead to deadly consequences or serious injury. That doesn't underscore the devastation that the families are feeling and my heart goes out to them."

Friends pay respect

Yesterday afternoon a group of 14 friends, including Mr Larosa's girlfriend Bobbi, returned to Lurline Bay in Sydney's east to pay their respects.

Photos and items of clothing were tied to the cliff face, along with flowers, an Australian flag and a crushed can of Jack Daniels. They also used a black Texta to cover a pillar in messages for Mr Larosa.

"I still can't believe you wore a pink shirt 4 me, XOXO Bobbi", his girlfriend wrote.

A friend of Ms Legge has also written about her online, describing her as "an amazing artist and a beautiful soul".

"She painted the female form beautifully and amazing landscapes," the friend said. "She was an extremely talented person."

Ms Legge, a graphic arts student at TAFE, also had a full-time job and was involved in at least one community project, her friend said.

"She was a member of a group that has personally financed a warehouse for the use of artists such as herself and it has been approved by the council. The warehouse is currently having disabled access put in at the cost of those artists financing it.

Video: Banksy - Street Artist

Editors note: One of the top living artist today, in my opinion. This is a good video introduction to his work.