I've taken a new job that is headquartered in Camden Town, London. On one of my first visits there back around late March, early April, I noticed the above graffiti along Regent's canal on my walk to the office, along with this piece...
Originally, they looked different. The roller-headed stork was erasing some text directed at Banksy about 'it being too late for that, mate' or something referencing an earlier statement. The little boy had hooked a white placard with the image of a fish inside the red circle-slash icon on it. Over the next couple of weeks I noticed these images were being written and painted over, so I asked the team in the office what the deal was. Apparently, Banksy wrote over a very famous and very old tag by old-school London graff god Robbo. (read more about the start of this feud, and Robbo, here) Robbo is more of a proper tagger. He doesn't do a lot of stencil art, mostly just writes his name on trains and buildings. He was very inactive for the last decade or so and is mostly known during the 80's and 90's I think. Anyway, Banksy wrote over one of the oldest standing pieces of Robbo's. That, apparently, is a big no-no in the graff world. So Robbo woke up and started tagging over Banksy's pieces. Now we get to watch them argue along the city's walls! Screw the World Cup! Who are you picking? Banksy's clever, gallery-friendly satire, or Robbo's principled, old-school gruff? Who get's the first book deal out of this? The first gallery show? London, this is war!!Also, and I find this to be pretty funny, there was a big deal in the neighborhood here towards the end of last week. The back beer garden of this pub down the street was apparently the lastest canvas for Banksy. The landlord was originally furious until his wife explained to him that it was now worth a fortune. Remember King Midas? A coworker took me to the pub friday after work. We asked a cop on the corner where it was, and he jokingly asked if we had spray paint. When we got a drink and went to the back garden, someone made the joke that we would have to pay them 5 quid to look at the wall. I know, these jokes are hilarious. So we gave the wall a quick look, decided it was quite possibly fake, that it didn't matter either way, and sat down at an empty table to talk. In the time it took us to finish our drink, probably 5 people came down specifically to gawk at the wall. A photographer came in to shoot it from different angles and measure it's size. Someone from the bar was showing people around it. We decided a second drink would be had elsewhere. The odd thing was, this place was a completely middle class, quiet pub in a semi-posh neighborhood. This is where Banksy is working now? It's like tagging a suburban Applebee's or something. Seemed odd, but maybe that's the point. Below is an image of the wall. Too me it doesn't look like a Banksy stencil, but what do I know. I recognize the balloon girl. She's one of his characters. The thing that struck me funny is i could see that it was mostly brushed on, not sprayed, especially the parts over the mirrors. The coverage was bad. The writing looks like his, but the rest seems strange. You can decide if it's Banksy or not. The pub has decided it is, whether or not it ends up being denied by his publicist, who at this point is making no comment. You see, having a Banksy on the wall suddenly makes the place cool and worth more.
The guy in black works for the pub, the guy writing on the wall is the photographer making notes. I have no idea why it says "Run For Your Lives!!!". We merely walked out after the first drink.
"And then Dorothy gave the cowardly lion a heart!"
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