Those unfamiliar with the anonymous UK based street artist Banksy can familiarize yourself with his work at his website. For the rest of you, Banksy as you know, is, in today’s art world, the closest equivalent to a Picasso or Dali. I say this not because I do/or do not feel his artistry is comparable but more so because of the amount of fame and notoriety allocated to his public persona - as well as his art - even with that persona being one of anonymity.
This is in spite of the fact that in this day in age, figures popular in the world of art and culture have taken a backseat to the aimless wanderings of individuals who are famous and like smoothies.
Be that as it may, Banksy also seems to be addressing these smoothie drinking, sex taping, DUI’ers - as was represented in one of his more astutely hilarious satirical jabs. When Paris Hilton’s fabulous debut album aptly titled Paris (named after the city in France) was released, Banksy engaged in some brilliant tomfoolery. In 48 UK stores, Banksy replaced around 500 CDs of Paris with mixes by Danger Mouse as opposed to the smooth grooves of Miss Hilton’s sultry breathe-y voice, with song titles like; “Why Am I Famous?” and “What Am I For?”. The art work was also given a tweek featuring Miss Hilton with her tits hanging out or with her head replaced with the head of her dog… Peaches? Sugar Blanket I think it was called… Sugar some shit… Britches?
Linked here is the artwork and video of his shenanigans.
This is of course old news to some and whether Banksy is as profound or important as Dali and Picasso were in their time has yet to be seen. But Banksy works the media angle like no other and is growing in popularity and prominence so quickly, it may not matter. Apart from someone like Matthew Barney (who is really more famous for his film work and being Bjork’s beau) there aren’t many other contemporary artist with as high of a profile as the Banksy.That being said, and I know this might be a stretch, but while in Bisbee, AZ I noticed some stenciled street art that closely resembled that of Banksy’s earlier work:
Look; It’s not hard to make some stencils and basically copy what Banksy does but these stenciled works found in Bisbee, AZ are conspicously similar to that of Banksy’s. I know that Banksy claimed responsibility for many pieces found outside of the UK - some found in fairly remote areas - but generally these places have more of a political context than Bisbee (a ladder painted on the barrier wall in Israel’s West Bank for example). But with his relatively light hearted work on Melrose in LA and with Bisbee being the “art” town that it is, it might not be too much of a stretch.
This is either a fucking sweet discovery on my part, or a totally humiliating and humbling example of my inability to decipher obvious fakes. I hope for the ladder and expect the former.More possible Banksy or Psuedo-Banksy stencils can be found in the gallery.
These various street artist…ries can be found in and around Old Bisbee among various other works of super dope fresh street art.
Hi, I live in Bisbee, and I actually believe that most of our outdoor stencil art was done by an artist named Cricket. Recently, the city (in its infinite wisdom) had a public forum about what is and is not “art” as part of an ongoing “clean-up” of Bisbee. It was determined that stencil art, when tastefully done, on public surfaces, was indeed “art.” However, in the city’s haste to “clean,” the piece known as the “Victorian Lady” was sandblasted, pressure washed, or painted over, and the citizens of the city raised enough money through private donations to commission Cricket to come back to Bisbee to reproduce the original work.
However, I am not sure if all of the work is Cricket’s or if multiple stencil artists have done work in Bisbee.
Matt.
Hi, I can confirm Matt’s comments. I live in New Orleans (live is as stretch, in actuality I am more of a wandering minstrel) and met Cricket myself. Passing through Bisbee about 2 weeks ago, I recognized some of those stencils on the wall - at least 6-8 of being Cricket’s work that I’ve seen in Nola, so I assumed that many more of the stencils were his handiwork. It’s thoroughly possible that Cricket was influenced by Banksy’s.
Appreciate the interesting bio you wrote up on Banksy. He was just back in Nola days before Gustav I heard. These are some of Banksy work in New Orleans, http://banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm
i knew it was cricket when id seen it in bizbee,i wus visitin wth my homie,bright star.definly tell off the bat tht it was not to be confusd wth tht banksey feller.