Banksy thwarted by New York police

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/banksy-thwarted-york-police-182939501.html

British street art superstar Banksy said police on Wednesday prevented him from creating a new piece of art in New York as promised on each day of the month.

"Today's art has been cancelled due to police activity," he wrote in a blank window on his website www.banksyny.com under the heading October 23.

The same message was carried on his instagram account, which has more than 255,000 followers and which like his website each day announces his pop-up exhibition.

Banksy provided no other details. And a spokesman for New York Police Department had no immediate comment.

Art work by the England-based graffiti maestro, who has never been formally identified, can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in upmarket galleries.

His month-long residency in New York has attracted a cult following, but has enraged the owners of defaced property and been criticised by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Graffiti does ruin people's property, and it's a sign of decay and loss of control," Bloomberg said last week. "Some places are for arts, and some aren't."

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owner of a building -- on which Banksy painted two geishas on a bridge -- was tagged and put guards on watch.

The artist's take on the twin towers of the World Trade Center brought down on September 11, 2001 -- painted in Brooklyn Heights, was removed after less than a week.

Banksy's stencilled designs, known for their irreverent humor and political activism, have propelled him from a graffiti rebel to reluctant star.

Called "Better Out Than In" his New York show includes traditional stencil designs with installation art.

One of the highlights is a slaughterhouse delivery truck stuffed with soft toy animals, which appeared first in Manhattan's uber trendy meatpacking district.

Called "The Sirens of the Lambs," the cuddly toy pigs, sheep, chickens and cows are operated by puppeteers and also tours the city everyday until the end of October.

[Ed Anger]

Good. Too bad they didn't jam a plunger up his ass.

[CountDeMoney]

Yay for the NYPD.  If only they shot him.

[merithyn]

I Banksy's art.

[garbon]

I Banksy's art.

I have to say that I don't get the appeal...at all.

[Josquius]

Kind of a dissapointing/relieving story. I guessed before clicking on the thread that they had caught him in the act.
Would be interesting were that to happen, would lead to his identy being revealed then interesting times would lie ahead.

[lustindarkness]

Who?

[merithyn]

I Banksy's art.

I have to say that I don't get the appeal...at all.

There's a haunting beauty to it. Like this one, for example:

[garbon]

Would be interesting were that to happen, would lead to his identy being revealed then interesting times would lie ahead.

Interesting times such as?

[Josquius]

Would be interesting were that to happen, would lead to his identy being revealed then interesting times would lie ahead.

Interesting times such as?

The media poking into his private life, lots being revealed about him. It would be interesting to see how he would react in such a situation, would he fight against the tide or adapt to it.

[Gups]

I think his work is great. Dunno how anyone with a sense of humour woudl find it objectionable. And it raises property prices!

[CountDeMoney]

There's a haunting beauty to it. Like this one, for example:

NYPD shoulda shot their little asses, too.  Fucking taggers.

[garbon]

I think his work is great. Dunno how anyone with a sense of humour woudl find it objectionable. And it raises property prices!

Sure if he wants to put his pieces on canvas or mixed media have at it...or even if he wanted to work through intermediaries to get permission to "tag" buildings" I'm not sure that he has much going for him over other "great" graffiti artists other than the allure of his unknown personality and that a lot of people became exposed to this alternative artist by watching that documentary.

I see no reason to be excited to see this in public:


And apparently New York didn't either.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QwIO1GshLcw/Uk9MW_OcqiI/AAAAAAAACiw/ZmSx6DewV6I/s1600/Banksy+Context.jpg

[jimmy olsen]

http://news.yahoo.com/banksy-thwarted-york-police-182939501.html

"Graffiti does ruin people's property, and it's a sign of decay and loss of control," Bloomberg said last week. "Some places are for arts, and some aren't."

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owner of a building -- on which Banksy painted two geishas on a bridge -- was tagged and put guards on watch.

The artist's take on the twin towers of the World Trade Center brought down on September 11, 2001 -- painted in Brooklyn Heights, was removed after less than a week.

If his art is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars per piece why would you remove it? 

Regardless of your own personal opinion of its artistic quality that just seems like a bad financial decision.

[derspiess]

I hate graffiti, but what little work I have seen of Bansky's, it's pretty good.