Banksy, a name which we’re very familiar with is set to debut his first film this month at the Sundance Film Festival. Titled “Exit Through The Gift Shop”, the film is billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie”, and described by organizers as “…an amazing ride, a cautionary modern fairy tale . . . with bolt cutters.”. This will be the first time the elusive artist, will appear on film. (his publicists have stated however that his identity will not be revealed and only his voice will be heard.)

While “Exit Through The Gift Shop” was left off the official programme, it’s inclusion in the festival has been shrouded in secrecy. Initial speculation about the festival’s Spotlight Surprise turned to Banksy after four stencils, believed to be by the artist, appeared on walls in Park City, where the festival is held. Not surprising, given his notoriety for teasing his audience, toying with authority, and continually pulling the wool over people’s eyes to stage unexpected stunts.

His satirical humor and brash social commentary has won the hearts of many over the years, as he continually adopts new mediums of expression; from the stencil and spray can, to life-size statues, animatronic installations in 08, to mysteriously installed full museum exhibitions earlier in 09. The film will be a new medium yet again for Banksy, and I’m sure we’ll all be in for an impressive surprise as he has proven time and time again.

“Exit Through The Gift Shop” will host  its world premiere at the festival on Sunday as the Sundance Spotlight Surprise (full screening times here.).  It is described as the story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on him. Banksy said: “It’s the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed”. Banksy’s publicist told the guardian, “It’s a film about a man who tried to make a film about me. Everything in it is true, especially the bits where we all lie.”

From the looks of the video, it seems that other notable street artists the likes of Shepard Fairey, Mr. A (Andre), Space Invaders and a few others will be featured as well. In the past, Banksy has both mythologised and subverted his own image, so the film could raise as many questions as it answers. John Cooper, director of the Sundance Festival, said the story was so bizarre that he questioned whether it could be real. ”Exit Through The Gift Shop is one of those films that comes along once in a great while, a warped hybrid of reality and self-induced fiction while at the same time a totally entertaining experience,” he added.

For those that can’t make it to the festival “Exit Through The Gift Shop” is due to open in UK cinemas on 5 March.

Take a look at the Trailer below.

More information at the Sundance website here.

More of Banksy coverage here.

Info: BBC, Sundance, Guardian

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Well it now seems that Robbo and his crew weren’t happy to let the spat end there and have recently adapted another Banksy piece, taking a swipe at the UK’s most feted street artist.

I find it strange that people are so outraged be either of these artists moves.  Graffiti by its very nature is transient, and Banksy’s work actually brought more acclaim and attention to the forgotten Robbo piece, however, Robbo’s response is creative and humorous and brings an excitement back to the UK graff scene that has been missing for several years now.

Word from the Robbo camp is that “no Banksy is safe”, so expect to see more street critique’s of the stencil artists work soon.

Source: AM

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As a result we have seen many great shows across the globe over the last few years, and not just in the capital or major cities, many provincial towns have had a look in too.  The most notable of these was the amazing Banksy Summer Show at the Bristol Museum, which saw people queing for over 3 hours to gain access, but many small local galleries have also put on impressive shows of their own.

The latest of these is  “(R)Evolution of Urban Art” at the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery in England.  Billed as a street art show it contains some of the biggest names on the scene such as Banksy and Blek le Rat, but also well known contemporary artists such as Gavin Turk, Sam Talylor-Wood and Takashi Murakami.  Also included in the exhibition are canvases and limited edition prints from an impressive line up of Adam Neate, David Choe, Faile, Lorraine Robbins, Antony Micallef, Ron English, José Parlá, Elbow-toe, Candice Tripp and Swoon.  Check out the highlight video below and if your in Warrington this is a must visit.

“(R)Evolution of Urban Art” at the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery is on until the 13 March 2010 .

Don’t forget to let us know if there are any good local art exhibitions happening in your town.

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The latest four new works put up in London by Banksy have caused a small controversy in the graffiti community. The well thought out piece, involving a man wallpapering up a wall of graffiti, just so happens to have been painted over 25 year old piece by London graffiti writer Robbo. With all the hype from these works you can imagine the surprise Robbo got when he saw his work being played with. Being not very happy about this, Robbo took to the work to defend his name. But instead of just doing a messy throw-up over Banksy’s piece, Robbo put some thought into his response to the anonymous artist.

See below for Robbo’s retaliation.

Images Vandalog

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New stencils from the elusive street artist Banksy have emerged in Camden, London, specifically in Regent’s Canal. More very clever and politically aimed messages grace the walls around the Canal’s touching on subjects such as global warming.

See new works from Banksy below.

Check out our exclusive Banksy feature in The New Order here.

Images Arrested Motion

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Currently up for sale on ebay is a rare original Banksy “Anarchy Rats” artwork. Removed from the exterior concrete wall of a building in Berlin’s Mitte district, the stencil piece appeared alongside a number of other stencil characters (mainly rats) during Banksy’s tour of Berlin back in 2003, when he was invited to take part in the Backjumps Live Issue Urban Art Festival that summer.

The piece up for sale depicts one of his iconic rats, paint brushing an anarchy “A”. The piece was removed and restored to the highest professional standards with authorization and support from the District Council of Berlin. The upside-down exclamation mark and the remains of three stencilled cowboy heads are additions by street artists from Berlin and could be removed by successful bidders so they wished.

A rare opportunity to own an important piece of street art history from one of the most popular and least understood artist of this decade.

Take a look at the auction here.

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Our 3rd Issue, titled Reintegration features an enormous 300 pages plus of Art, Fashion and Photography. from our Cover Story, Kostas Seremetis, through to NBHD, Soph., Tet and Nigo’s URSUS, Undercover, Casely-Hayford, Hood by Air, Neckface, Rita Ackermann, Tom Sachs, Kenny Scharf, WK Interact, Banksy, and thats just a few stories.. we can’t possibly list them all.

Alongside all the normal exclusive interviews and stacks of content, there’s a new layout, and we’ve used a heavier paper stock to make the magazine all the more collectable.

The Magazines have arrived at our offices now and are shipping this week, you can order yours online here, and please feel free to contact us regarding wholesale queries you may have.

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Banksy, the worlds most well known street artist has produced another piece of ironic work for his latest release. This print entitled “No Ball Games” depicts two children throwing around a concrete slab with the slogan plastered on it. Two editions have been created with a green version available online and a grey version available in store, both at Pictures on Walls.

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An interesting turn of events have unfolded over the last month in regards to Banksy’s ‘IKEA Punk’ piece in Croydon, London. Since our initial coverage back in September, it was defaced by vandals in November during a public vote.

This month, two loyal fans of the secretive guerilla artist have decided to spend thousands of pounds out of their own pocket to restore the defaced piece, hiring a team of builders to cut out the three-ton section of reinforced concrete wall, lifting it by crane on to a lorry and took it to a secret location where it will be cleaned up.

Nick Loizou, a 30-year-old graphic designer and builder, and Bradley Ridge, a 31-year-old restaurateur, hope to sell the piece once it has been restored to its former glory.

Mr Ridge said: ‘To begin with we thought we would nick the mural,’ he joked. ‘We thought we could cut the Banksy off the wall, flop it on to a mattress and take it away.

‘That wasn’t possible so we thought better of it, and decided to try to save it.’ With the backing of the owners of the wall, concrete company Hanson Premix, Mr Ridge and Mr Loizou drew up their plans to rescue it.

The operation was complicated when the team of labourers, carpenters and bricklayers discovered the wall was made of reinforced concrete, not brick as they had assumed.

They spent nine days preparing the wall before it was taken away in a pre-dawn operation on Thursday. During the nine days someone slept by it every night for protection.

According to Mr Ridge, Banksy himself has given his blessing to the project through an intermediary, saying: ‘Well done and good luck.’

The future of the mural, once restored, is uncertain. ‘We have a couple of options,’ said Mr Loizou.

‘We really want to sell it to a gallery or a museum so the maximum number of people can enjoy it. But if we can’t do that, there is always eBay.’

It’s actually not the first time Banksy’s artworks have been completely excavated from walls, around the same time last year, a friend of ours here at SLAMXHYPE, Peter Dean Rickards chopped down a slab of concrete wall with a rare banksy piece in Jamaica (one of the only stencil piece which Banksy has officially signed off). Take a look at the original post here (there is an interesting video there which I highly recommend).

Info: Dailymail UK

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The last time we talked to you about The Thousands was in August, back before it even had a name! Now, with less than a week to go, RJ from Vandalog is hard at work putting the final touches on the show, which will feature mostly privately owned work from Os Gemeos, Banksy, Barry McGee, Know Hope, KAWS, Swoon, Chris Stain, Herakut, Shepard Fairey, Faile and more.

The Thousands, which opens on November 18th at Village Underground in London, has also been documented in a fantastic book entitled The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. Order your copy from Drago.

RJ gave us an exclusive look at this awesome Barry McGee for the show – Untitled 2, 2008, Installation of 11 Elements, Acrylic on Wood Panels, 123×96cm, Courtesy of Barry McGee via CircleCulture Gallery. Check out some more sneak peeks below, then make sure to see it all in person if you can next week!

Know Hope

Chris Stain

Faile

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Works of Banksy have often been regarded as beneficial to the local community, attracting art-savvy tourists that help boost the local economy. Though it’s not the first time Banksy’s been painted over,  it’s always sad to see a great work of art end up this way.

Source: BBC

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Aakash Nihalani and Know Hope brighten up the streets of Vienna during the Blk River Festival.

If you look really closely, you can make out Know Hope’s little paper raindrops falling from the hole in Aakash’s top square.

Clever remix of a classic Banksy image.

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“Street Artists – The Complete Guide” is a  new book from Eleanor Mathiseon and Xavier A. Tapies, the authors of “Street Art and the World on Terror”. A fully illustrated tome on some of the biggest names in street art including Banksy, JR, Invader, Blu and many more.

Thanks to Artschoolovers for the images

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Another piece from Banksy has popped up in London (corner of Tottenham High Road and Philip Lane), this latest “No Ball Games” piece resembles Banksy’s earlier work that featured similar stencil images of children throwing around a TV with a basketball showing on the screen, only this time it is an image of children playing with a “No Ball Games” sign. Great to see Banksy back on the street where his artwork feels most at home. Take a look below.

Images: romanywg

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With the Banksy vs Bristol Museum show now over, it seems Banksy is officially back to decorating the streets as images of new work from the Bristol artist has surfaced recently, a piece depicting an image of a punk attempting to assemble an “IEAK Graffiti Slogan” kit. As usual, no official confirmation regarding the authenticity, but the unique style of stenciling and satirical sense of humour suggests that this is in fact the work of Banksy. Seen in Croydon (on Beddington Farm Road) London.

Thanks to Arrested Motion for the info.

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