Banksy's Bulldog Restored

Taking the Piss Out of Banksy

Qtip the Cat at Banksy

Qtip is also caught up in this Banksy craze, and so we took her to visit the Banksy pieces and do a photo shoot.

Banksy's English Bulldog is kind of like the Mona Lisa in that no matter where you stand, it always seems to be looking at you.

Click the jump for more exclusive pics and the only place to see a cool cat with Banksy~

Free Street Art Scavenger Hunt- Bankrupt Slut with Banksy

These scavenger hunts have been a lot of fun, and today Bankrupt Slut dropped off 2 pieces of free street art, one at each of the remaining two Banksy pieces in LA.

These are well hidden. It was purposefully done by Bankrupt Slut so that only the followers of MELROSEandFAIRFAX would find them.

One of these is a rare 'pink' chase figures and it comes with a special prize pack. Click the jump for more info and location details

Dog Byte Buffed - Why Can't More Street Art Be Valued Like A Banksy?

Perhaps in response to Banksy's English Bulldog pissing, Dog Byte put up a new stencil entitled 'Bark Softly and Carry a Big Head'. Unfortunately, it was buffed the very next day after it went up, leaving just this puddle of white paint on the sidewalk in front of the spot where the art used to be.

Not all street art is special, but some of it really is. Banksy is great and we would love to see a similar respect shown to other top tier artists, like LA's very own stencil guru Dog Byte.

Click the jump below to see exclusive pics, the only public pics in the world, of Dog Byte's piece.

BEST of BANKSY on MELROSEandFAIRFAX

MELROSEandFAIRFAX has been at the forefront of all the Banksy action in LA. In fact, we think we were the first internet source to post all four pieces and have had the exclusive jump on the action that has happened since.

It all started with a tip we received on the blog we hunted down Banksy's Crayon Soldier. We didn't know anything about Lauren Conrad's tweet at the time, like most internet sources, and even though she technically had the inside scoop, we were the first to launch the initial pics of Banksy's Crayon Soldier.

Before the thrill of the first Banksy had even worn off, we were tipped off on another Banksy- the Charlie Brown on Sunset, and we rushed over to take the first pics, and put QtipTheCat in the pics for good measure.

On the way home from Charlie, we snapped pics of what we thought at the time was just another impressive graffiti billboard takeover and posted them that same night. We were the first ones in the world to post these images, but had no idea that 'Livin the Dream' was Banksy at the time. The next day Banksy posted the images on his website and word got out that the billboard was a Banksy.

We had hardly got done posting that the billboard was indeed a Banksy when a viewer submitted pics of the pissing Bulldog. We blasted the pics out there not sure at the time whether it was a Banksy or not. It was, and we locked down the position of being the first internet source to cover each of Banksy's four new pieces in Los Angeles.

It has been a wild ride that did not stop with the discovery but led on to Charlie being boarded up, and then uncovered and drilled, and finally removed and put on ebay.

As if that weren't drama enough, Livin the Dream got taken down and respectable folks almost came to fists fighting over it.

And aside from all the pieces themselves, there have been all kinds of great community stories including rumors about other pieces by Banksy, Banksy getting spot-jacked, stories of dedication from the legions of Banksy fans, street art dedicated to Banksy's street art, not to mention good dialogue on the topic of street art.

But perhaps the coolest thing has been the way the community has flocked to MELROSEandFAIRFAX for the latest breaking news on Banksy, and not only find out about what's happening, but contribute to the making the story itself and submitting, what we believe to be exclusive shots of Banksy's Crayon Soldier before it was buffed.

It has been a wild ride, and we have only managed 10 hours of sleep the last 3 nights combined. It has been well worth it, and we have loved every moment of this chase. Huge thanks to all the viewers, followers, and contributors who have made all this magic happen!

And our personal guess is that there might be a new crop of Banksy street art in Los Angeles after the Oscars are awarded. Win or lose, we expect to see something. (But c'mon, no doubt Banksy is going to win! When is the last time people were talking about the award so much?)

Keep checking back to MELROSEandFAIRFAX for the latest, greatest breaking news on Banksy in LA.

Banksy is Top Dog

Here are some spectacular shots of Banksy's pissing bulldog. These have been submitted by Adolfo, and are some of the best pics of this piece we've seen.

Click the jump for yet another MELROSEandFAIRFAX Banksy exclusive.

4th Piece by Banksy? -Banksy is Top Dog

Finding the Banksy's in LA has become like a treasure hunt!

We have been impressed and astounded by the strong community being exhibited during the chase, and thanks to alert MELROSEandFAIRFAX reader Jessica Alidio, it seems the 4th Banksy might have been found!

Click the jump below for more details and location!