Banksy , the mysterious graffiti artist from Britain, recently announced that for the first time since 2010 he would be creating new works of art in New York City.
The first new piece appeared at 18 Allen Street in Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, featuring a boy climbing on top another to reach for a crossed out spray paint can crossed out in a sign reading “Graffiti is a crime.” Within hours, multiple taggers altered the work. Finally it was completely whitewashed, no longer visible.
As disappointing as this was for Banksy fans, the street artist was already at work on another piece. As the New York Times reports, a second piece at West 25 th Street between 10 th and 11 th Avenues is now up for public viewing . Banksy acknowledged the piece on his website Wednesday morning.
The new piece is a bit more modest. It has a common graffito-stylized line that reads “This is my New York accent.” In much smaller text below it reads “… normally I write like this” in neat print style. The work is painted on a garage door.
Banksy has gained international fame for his work, sometimes hailed as a revolutionary counter-culture artist who has succeeded in legitimizing street and graffiti-styled art. Despite his fame, Banksy’s true identity is not publicly known despite many attempts to unravel the mystery.
As New York Daily News reports, Banksy is doing a month-long “residency” of New York City during October . Through his stay, the unconventional artist will be adding new works to various locations in Manhattan and elsewhere. As with all his work, a Banksy piece is only verified once he posts it on his website, found here .
Those interested in following the artist’s residency of New York City can check his site. To take a tour of his completed works, the graffiti master provides a toll-free number anyone can call on their cell phone. A pre-recorded audio tour will then help street art aficionados find and enjoy the new Banksy pieces.
Below is the new work announced by Banksy on Tuesday:
Unfortunately, the piece was quickly targeted by vandals who left it looking like this:
Fortunately, Banksy put up a new work on Wednesday, which some have reported via social media as vandalized this afternoon:
[Featured image via Banksy ; All body images via Banksy except whitewashed image, via Streetartnews / Twitter ]
