Spotted in the wild: Banksy at work
Less than two weeks after a successful showing at auction, Banksy once again explodes onto headlines, allegedly unmasked, working, and on camera. The Times Online (UK) reports that a passerby was able to take a camera-phone snapshot of the man who had extended the street’s double yellow line into the flower you see pictured, as he applied the finishing touches to the work. Separately, Time magazine states that a spokesperson for the artist confirms that the Bethnal Green (East London) mural is Banksy’s work, but wouldn’t confirm the identity of the man in the image.
The image after the jump
Even a positive identification won’t save the graffiti, though, from the local government curmudgeons:
A council spokesman said last week: “Whilst some graffiti is considered to be art, we know that many of our residents think graffiti in areas where they live, such as local housing estates, is an eyesore.”
The neighbouring council of Hackney has also said that it will hose away his work. “We can’t make a decision as to whether something is art or graffiti,” a spokesman said. “The Government judges us on the number of clean walls we have.”
To muse about whether unmasking the “guerilla artist” will affect his mystique seems misplaced to me given the recent prices fetched at auction, the wholesale embrace by the establishment, and the laundry list of celebrity fans (as always noted, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie near the top of that list) who adore his work. Banksy’s work has always spoken for itself, and that might be the only reason that guarding his own visage so carefully would matter. After having stated from his web site something as audacious as, “I can’t believe you morons buy this shit,” if no one cared then, I don’t see this as much of a misstep in his career.
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