Banksy continues in NYC with a piece on Trump capitalism​. 19 March 2018

Banksy continues his New York session in 2018 with another large mural in Brooklyn on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue I. The piece depicts a typical real estate developer equipped with a hard hat and a graph instead of a whip in his hand. A reference to Mr Trump’s beginnings as heir to the vast real estate empire founded by his father, Fred Trump?

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Image: Banksy’s Instagram

Banksy mural in New York in support of Zehra Doğan. 15 March 2018

A 22-metre-long mural was unveiled on 15 March in New York in support of jailed Kurdish painter Zehra Doğan. It is a collaboration with New York artist John Tsombikos, a.k.a. BORF. The piece is at the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery. Banksy said in a statement to the New York Times:

“I really feel for her. I’ve painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence,”

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20180316 Banksy SA - US - New York - Zehra Dogan detail
Photo: http://www.banksy.co.uk

New Rat in New York. 14 March 2018

Banksy is back in New York with his first piece since October 2013. It’s a brilliantly executed rat-in-the-clock, a theme that has been used a few times before, most recently at The Walled Off Hotel. The piece can be found on 6th Ave., a few blocks south of the Empire State Building.

Image from Banksy’s Instagram

Draw the raised bridge! – New mural in Hull. 26 January 2018

The artwork was discovered on 26 January on the Scott Street Bridge in Hull, a town in eastern England. The stencilled piece depicts a boy raising a makeshift sword with a pencil attached to the tip, carrying a shield, and wearing a cap and a colander on his head.

On his Instagram account, Banksy changes the wording to RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGEBanksy being for the EU and Hull being the city with the highest Brexit leave is one take on the artwork. It could also refer to the Siege of Hull in 1642, when King Charles I was refused entry to Hull by Sir John Hotham and the Parliament.

Photos: http://www.banksy.co.uk

POW quits and releases signed version of Sale Ends. 31 December 2017

From Pictures on Walls website:

“POW was started in 2003 by a loose collection of artists, graffiti writers and illustrators who were shunned by the controlling influencers of the day – so we set about producing and distributing our own art. The invention of the internet and the cardboard tube enabled us to circumvent the centuries-old grip of the established art world and we laid waste to their cronyism and vested interests and good taste. We delivered a new generation of art directly into people’s homes – well, the Royal Mail did most of it.

Somewhere along the way we mastered our craft and many POW prints have become benchmarks within the industry. We pioneered the use of foil block, patterned embossing and we were the first in the industry to use non-solvent based inks. We never put anything down the drain except effort. Throughout it all POW has remained an independent artist-run operation, hosting landmark exhibitions and pioneering the concept of a shit pop-up shop long before it became fashionable.

However, inevitably disaster struck – and many of our artists became successful. Street Art was welcomed into mainstream culture with a benign shrug and the art we produced became another tradeable commodity. Despite attempts at price fixing regrettably some POW prints have become worth tens of thousands of pounds. Either unable or unwilling to become part of the art market we once so self-righteously denounced – we called it quits. Here are some of the things we made…”

Source: https://www.picturesonwalls.com

A month before, POW released a signed version of the Sales End print. The first version was sold at the Barely Legal exhibition in 2006 as part of the Barely Legal print set, six prints in unsigned editions of 100: Sale Ends, Trolleys, Festival, Grannies, Applause, and Morons.

Also, in the end of December 2017, a new section labeled “Theme Park” was introduced on banksy.co.uk. It has some nice pictures of Dismaland from the book “Are we there yet?”, a photojournalistic document on Dismaland and its aftermath by photographer Barry Cawston.

New Section on banksy.co.uk

BBC to screen documentary on the “making of” Alternativity. 13 December 2017

The documentary about the performance will be screened on BBC TWO on Sunday, 17 December at 9 p.m. and is said to follow Boyle overcoming the “many restrictions” to find a cast, crew, and local children and put together the show in six weeks. The performance took place on 3 December and was co-directed by Bethlehem-based Riham Isaac.

Banksy created a promotional image for the documentary showing a drone watching over the nativity scene. (Source: BBC)

Screenshot: BBC

You can watch the documentary here:

British artist James Ame caught with a Banksy stencil and a spray can. 13 December 2017

British artist James Ame, a.k.a. Ame72, was caught in a photo in early December by a British tourist outside the Milk Grotto chapel in Bethlehem in front of a recently confirmed artwork by Banksy. Mr. Ame is holding a spray can and part of a stencil, which seems to fit with the star in the artwork.

James Ame participated in an exhibition curated by Steve Lazarides at Herzliya Marina in Tel Aviv in March 2017. At the same time, also in March 2017, Banksy opened his Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, just 80 km from Tel Aviv. Steve Lazarides is Banksy’s former agent. According to James Ame’s website, http://www.ame72.com, he also participated in The Cans Festival in London, the collective street art exhibition organised by Banksy in May 2008. A publicity stunt by Steve L, or is James Ame a member of the Banksy street art crew?

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Photo: Jason Stellios