Banksy Takes On Wall Street?

Some new pictures just got put up online, reportedly showing Banksy's newest piece.

At first, this might look like a Banksy piece. But from looking closer at the art, this does not feel like Banksy. The shading is off, the market line is strange (wouldn't Banksy have it doing something, not just there).

Not Banksy. Just another someone clearly inspired by Banksy's month-long residence in New York.

A Closer Look at Banksy's Bronx Zoo

Here is a closer look at Banksy's Bronx Zoo graffiti leopard.

This location was listed on Banksy's website as Yankee Stadium, but this is not on the stadium itself, but right across the street.

The blue background and fierce spirit of this piece seems to make it a favorite amongst many fans. But perhaps the larger point that Banksy is trying to make by waiting all day to reveal this piece is that just like in the jungle, the wild cats are still blending in.

C'mon New York. After a full month of Banksy and this piece did not get spotted on the streets all day!? Big time fail. Banksy has opened eyes during Better Out Than In, but apparently still not enough to notice everything unusual in the Big Apple.

Good Thing BanksyNY's Art is Going to Art Lovers -- Now on Ebay

Gothamist published an article with the owner of Banksy's 'Grumpy Asshole' truck.

The new owner is not impressed. He says "For me, its worth nothing more than art on the other sides of the truck. I don't know art. To me it has no value. I can't appreciate that."

The owner is an Orthodox Jew, so he did not answer his phone all day on Sunday, allowing the truck to sit there all day. Even though it was unprotected, there was no vandalism, only fans writing their names in dust.

The owner is now trying to sell it to the highest bidder saying "I can replace the truck so it doesn't have value to me--but it has value to someone else". Apparently, this own can appreciate the financial value, even if not the artistic.

Now, wonder if there is some rich grumpy asshole willing to pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 'Grumpy Asshole' truck?

***UPDATE -- Banksy's Grumpy Truck is now on Ebay for $120,000. Or better offer. The asking price might seem like a bargain since Banksy's 'The Banality of the Banality of Evil' is currently above $300,000+.***

Deeper Look at Twin Towers

Here is a return visit to Banksy's Twin Tower's tribute in New York City.  This stencil was one of Banksy's earlier pieces during this month, but now his later pieces with Banksy's unpublished essay submitted to the New York Times, and the 'Blocked Messages' stencil.

The New York Times refused to publish Banksy's words, but then the tabloids took the story and ran with it. Now, everyone is still talking about Banksy's letter and what he meant by it. The thing is, the level of discourse is disappointingly simple. Most of the online chatter seems to be about why Banksy cares about the way a building looks and if he has offended New Yorkers with his essay. But, that is not Banksy's point.

M&F believes that the bigger point that Banksy is trying to make, is that people and countries get judged by how they handle their trials and tribulations. And 9/11 was the worst terrorist attack to ever take place on American soil. So how has America responded to the tragedy? Banksy's point in critiquing the architecture of Word Trade One, its not just about the way it looks, its about what happened in the process. Instead of making America a stronger and better place after 9/11, the architectural complaints that Banksy is making about the building are really saying that the values America exhibited after 9/11 are not how to make things better, the values America has shown with World Trade One stand for corporate greed, compromise, and what-is-not-necessarily-in-the-best-interest-of-the-American-people. Banksy's letter is not simply about architecture, its about how America fumbled the ball after 9/11.

Banksy is not insulting New York. He is encouraging America to do better. That's what the flower means attached to the Tower in Banksy's art. After something bad happens, try to turn it into something beautiful. The World Trade One shows how America has failed.

If you still take offense to Banksy's letter, ask yourself, with everything that has happened since 9/11, is America better? or worse? -- Exactly.

Stay up, Banksy. Stay up, New York. And stay up, America~

Click the jump for a pictorial return visit to Banksy's Twin Towers Tribute--with pics from before it was defaced

BanksyNY - Not Ratted Out

A lot of people have been wanting Banksy to return to his rats, something he has not yet done during Better Out Than In.

A rat just showed up on the streets of New York, but this rat is not Banksy. When did Banksy forget how to paint? Banksy is known for adding freehand highlights with shadowing and flairs to his stencils, but he doesn't forget major features like the face and tail.

Nope. Not Banksy. Just more mediocrity.

People Are Always 2 Steps Behind Banksy -- UPDATE -- This is NOT Banksy's Art Today

Banksy has not yet made his announcement today, causing many to believe he could be releasing a video or legal installation later in the day.

Meanwhile, many folks are speculating that this dude selling 'I Am Banksy' t-shirts in New York might be today's art.

Nope. Its not. But this dude selling shirts sure lucked out!

Still waiting (not in vain . . .) for Banksy's October 29th piece.


***UPDATE -- The T shirt seller has now sold out. Reportedly, people were buying 10 at a time, and he sold out. Folks are clamoring about the chance to score a authentic Banksy again. People, this is NOT Banksy's art piece for today. Guaranteed. How do we know for sure? There is no traffic cone. Boom. Tell your mom before she trades her thong for one. NOT Banksy's Tshirts. But a very lucky Tshirt vendor.***

StealBanksyNY

In the midst of Banksy's trip to New York, some folks have set up a website meant to capitolize on the financial aspect of Banksy's street art.

StealBanksyNY, with a tagline 'Better Ours Than Theirs', the site provides a map of all of Banksy's New York pieces with the word 'Free' at each location. The site even updates when the pieces are damaged or removed saying 50% off or 'out of stock'.

Looks like Banksy's Beaver is only 15% off. We'll take it!

So steal yourself a Banksy. Hurry, get it before MOMA gets it!

BanksyNY -- If Christmas Happened Every Day, It Would Be Hard To Stay Excited

Some people have started to say that Banksy's novelty has worn off. Well, if Christmas happened every day, it would be hard to stay excited. 

Those same folks seem to have begun to take Banksy's efforts for granted. Indeed, it seems that the buzz surrounding Better Out Than In has died down a bit. The peak seemed to be the week following Banksy's Central Park Art Sale.

M&F is exhausted from this month of mayhem, but we want to point out that this ride has been spectacular. Banksy's residency has made us fall in love with the streets, and Banksy all over again. 

Banksy could have remained elusive. He did not have to do this, but he took on this tremendous undertaking, and gave all the street art lovers an entire month of Christmas. Every day a new Banksy.  And what Banksy has taken on and accomplished in New York this month has been truly amazing. 31 days is a long time to do anything. Not every piece was a homerun for everybody, but each piece was a hit for someone. Banksy has consistently stayed fresh and engaging throughout the month. And he did it all on the streets that never sleep facing pressure from the police yet he did it all without getting arrested. Boom. 

Big thanks to Banksy for this month of Christmas in October. There are still 3 days left, and M&F is going to be cherishing each and every one of them~

Stay up!  And click the jump for a deeper look at more craziness surrounding Banksy in New York!

Banksy's Art Fights Back

Another great animation, this one showing Banksy's art fighting back. Banksy's future robot is spraying the dudes installing metal gates over.

Great stuff from Gramvino.

BanksyNY - Lost a Gig but Didn't Lose a Penny

Today, the NY Daily News reported that Manhattan retailer Century 21 had plans for an upcoming 'showcase' of Banksy's work. However, in response to Banksy's editorial regarding the World Trade One, Century 21 has now cancelled the 'showcase' Banksy art show.

Oh well. Its no skin off Banksy's chin. Banksy doesn't whore himself out for corporate gigs (unlike the majority of other big name graffiti and street artists out there). So even though Banksy lost the gig, this didn't cost him a penny.

In fact, its kind of like natural selection. After all, Banksy wrote some words of truth, and the corporate titans who couldn't handle what he had to say are now bothered? Well, good. Banksy's art is effective on so many levels~

BanksyNY - Graffiti Robots of the Future

Banksy's newest piece gives a teaser of how graffiti will look in the future. Robots will be tagging bar code around the city.

In the far shot, there is also a pigeon flying off as part of the art.

***UPDATE -- the pigeon is not part of the art, just a random & beautiful 'artful' addition.***

BanksyNY Pulls a Triple Header

Banksy pulled a triple header tonight in New York with 3 separate installations, Silence of the Lambs, the Garden Truck and the Grim Reaper all converging at one location.

Click the jump to enjoy more BanksyNY madness from all over New York

Inspired By Banksy

Banksy's month long residency is now drawing into its final week.  Its almost sad thinking that the circus might be over, but during this month Banksy has left his mark on New York. Not only did Banksy decorate the city himself, but he also inspired all kinds of folks.  People got inspired to do everything from create art to have a discussion with Banksy.

Click the jump to see some of the most fun inspired by Banksy

A Closer Look at Banksy's 'Blocked Messages'

Here is a closer look at Banksy's 'This Site Contains Blocked Messages'. Like an onion, the layers of meaning keep unveiling themselves.

There are two additional major things to take note of with this stencil. First, the placement of this stencil is in clear view of Word Trade One, or Freedom Tower. So, it seems that this street piece was done in planned conjunction with the release of Banksy's editorial for the New York Times.

Which is the second thing to note. That Banksy officially released 2 pieces today, which makes up for the day missed due to police activity.

As for the crowd reaction, it seems like the number of people are dying down around Banksy's street pieces a little bit. Even the taggers seemed to have run low on their hater spirit? Guess this is an example of how Banksy's perseverance has outlasted the initial waves of hate.

BanksyNY - Takes Aim at New York Times & NYC's Shyscraper'

In addition to the Blocked Messages piece that Banksy released earlier, he also updated his website with this proposed editorial for the New York Times.  The New York Times refused to publish Banksy's article, so Banksy posted the words on his own website.

With all the mainstream press that BanksyNY's month long artist residency in has garnered, it is a bit surprising that the NY Times refused to publish an editorial from arguably the biggest artist in the world. The refusal probably had more to do with what Banksy is saying in the article, than anything else.

In his article, Banksy aims some real gut punches to the city of New York. He starts out by saying that the biggest eyesore in New York is not graffiti, its the One World Trade, the building built in place of the Twin Towers after 9/11.  Banksy calls it '104 floors of compromise' and says that it is a 'thousand foot tall sign that reads "New York - we lost our nerve'. Ouch. Banksy's main point is that the One World Trade is a symbol for how America has slipped with its handling of 9/11. It represents, Banksy says, how '10 men have condemned us to live in a world more mediocre than the one they attacked, rather than be a catalyst for a dazzling new one'.

Damn. Its true. America has fumbled its handling of 9/11 like a football. And Banksy dares say that the new empire has no clothes. And needs a new paint job. Talk about speaking truth to Power. Its so powerful, that the Power just doesn't want to publish this truth.

In his unpublished editorial, Banksy also reveals so motivations for why he chose New York for this artist residency. Banksy says 'Nobody comes here for your well mannered common sense. We're here for the spirit and audacity.' Boom.

Guess the bottom line is that the establishment is happy to look at pictures from artists, but they still don't want to hear what the artist's actually have to say. "You send us words!? We want pictures!" Lol. Guess Banksy will just keep up with writing his messages on walls~

Stay up!

BanksyNY Confirmed - This Site Contains Blocked Messages

Its been confirmed that the 'This Site Contains Blocked Messages' is from BanksyNY.

Dig how this piece hits on many levels. On the surface, Banksy's letters have been painted over a buffed wall, so the graffiti messages have been blocked. And on another level, its kind of like how the Mona Lisa is always looking at you. And whenever this image gets posted on the internet, it will be like the image is referring to the internet site, not the wall itself.

Blocked Messages?

Rampant rumors are swirling that this piece in New York is Banksy's latest.

As of yet, this 'Blocked Messages' wall has not been confirmed on Banksy's website.

Banksy's Geisha - Street Museum

Banksy's Geisha has turned into a street museum.  Complete with visiting hours, gates, guards and all the fun you might find at a real museum. But you might get mugged at this one~

Lol, out of all the ways that Banksy's pieces have been handled on the streets, what is the right way? M&F does not know. In an ideal world, it would be great if Banksy's art just lasted indefinitely on the streets. But all of these other options--tagging, metal gates, or the auction house just don't seem to do the art justice.

GA One probably left that tag above because he tried to visit Banksy's piece, but was pissed cause he couldn't see it cause it wasn't during visiting hours~ (that is a joke if sarcasm is not clear over the internet)

BanksyNY is Big Money!!!

One things for sure, some folks are cashing in (^!) on Banksy's visit to New York. Apparently, the wad above was from the store across the street from Hustler, and the shop started selling Banksy magnets after Banksy painted his Waiting in Vain piece there.  More dough for the strip club!

You know, speaking of money, its worth noting that Banksy is one of the few big-time artists who does not get accused of selling out. Just sayin'.

Another sure thing is that people are getting better at posing with Banksy.  Click through to see some of the best shots of people interacting with Banksy's art.

Stay up!

Banksy Trucked Up -- Not Grumpy, Assholes

Banksy's 'Grumpy Asshole' truck has been located by some very ungrumpy non-asshole Banksy Hunters.  In what looks like a beautiful day in New York, this truck is perhaps one of the best scenes yet for a discovered Banksy.  All the fans writing their names next to the piece permanently in the built up dust.  Dig it~

Also, Banksy updated his website twice today.  Once to show a truck with a cropped license plate (instead of the original).  And also, about Banksy's 'Waiting In Vain' piece, he wrote 'For those of you wanting to know if this was a permission piece, it wasn't.'

Boom. We wondered. Question answered. Much respect~

If you're not a grumpy asshole, click the jump for more fun!