“I Heart Banksy”

For those of you who aren’t in the know, Banksy is a famous – (some may argue that it’s more of “infamous”) guerrilla artist in the UK known for his controversial (and impressive) stencil graffiti that pop up all over the country. Underlying his “sketches” is usually a clever socio-political commentary of sorts (such as the statue of liberty stencil). Given his popularity, there are plenty of “copy cat” Banksys’ floating around. The Statue of Liberty is definitely Banksy’s work, but I can’t figure out whether it’s the real McCoy of one of his stencils somebody decided to purchase off ebay. Note that the Andipa gallery is displaying his artwork at present – you just need to have a minimum of ₤6,000 squirreled away in one of your hollowed oak trees…. *sigh* Note that his Andy Warhol version of the Campbell Soup screen print – Tesco’s Tomato Soup - hung without suspicion in the NY Met for about 6 days before somebody actually noticed it wasn’t supposed to be there…. (I would have bought that, but I balked at the ₤20,000 price tag.)

Stencil graffiti has even made it’s way to Canterbury. (Notice the prevalence of farm like animals…..)