performance art from Banksy?

Banksy has been at it again.  He has updated his website and posted pictures of some recent outdoor stencil pieces near the British seaside, and his guerilla installation at Brighton Pier of the reconditioned dolphin ride he originally showed at The Village Pet Shop and Charcoal Grill in New York, which has now been updated to include a ruptured BP oil drum and a wave of crude oil.

Then there was posted a video, "Royal Visit Glastonbury 2010", in which Banksy presents us with a hilarious encounter between a costumed hippy hemp enthusiast and the heir to the British throne. We were dumbfounded that the interaction was permitted to take place, as here in the US you wouldn't even get that sign up before security would be all over you. And throwing a sample bag of weed at "Charlie, Charlie" would be out of the question.  The episode displays the cunning of Borat, the brazen recklessness of Jackass and the irreverence towards celebrity of Punk'd.

And it raises numerous questions. Who is the hippy? Is it the same person who posed for the portrait in Times Square wearing a black ski mask back on May 19, 2010?  Is Banksy creating another "superstar" (in the Warholian sense) the way he created Mr Brainwash?  Are these "pranksy" pieces part of the next big Banksy project or just a diversion? Is it Banksy himself doing these actions? Is it a friend of Banksy's? Is it Robin Gunningham?

For those who don't follow the British tabloids, The Daily Mail ran an article in July 2008 claiming that it had tracked down the identity of Banksy, and that he is Robin Gunnigham (pictured above right). Comparing these two pictures, we cannot rule out that it s the same person in both.  Is this Banksy? And if so, what's he up to?

Check Banksy's website banksy.co.uk for future updates.

Banksy: hood rat?

It's no secret that we believe Chicago has yet to yield all it's Banksy work.  Surely there exists more than the three known works (the untouchables pram, the downtown rat, and you concrete me).  Our recent hunt has turned up a fake monkey, but we've seen nothing plausible as work from Mr B until now. Could this hood rat be one of the undiscovered Banksys in Chicago?

The hood rat is down on the south side near US Cellular Field.  It's large for a rat, standing nearly 25 inches high. It was first discovered by Chicago artist Hebru Brantley who posted a pic on his blog Whup Yo Kids.  We are not 100% convinced of the authenticity of this piece, but if this is a fake at least its a damn clever one.  Banksy or not, we like the hood rat.

View more pics of the hood rat on our flickr along with pictures of the other Banksy works in Chicago.

Check out Hebru Brantley's blog Whup Yo Kids and view his artwork on his website.

is this the face of Banksy?

Recently, the elusive Mr B. once again updated the "outdoors" section of his website. The last time he did this, we here in Chicago discovered that we had Banksy art in the Windy City. No such luck this time, though pictures were added further documenting the recent spate of Banksy street art that popped up across North America in conjunction with his movie "Exit Through The Gift Shop".

Then there is the picture above. It is posted in the "outdoors" section as well. The photograph next to it on the site shows a masked man sitting for a street portrait in Times Square in front of the Viacom headquarters. It is undoubtedly the same masked person in both the sketch and the photograph. We are led to assume that the sketch is the result of the street sitting. Are we to believe that this is Banksy in the drawing, hiding in plain sight?

Is this tongue in cheek performance art or political statement? Is it a commentary on anonymity or fame or terrorism or simply an homage to Chris Burden's 1971 performance "You'll never see my face in Kansas City"? And if it's not Banksy in the pictures, who is it and what is his connection to the artist? So many questions, and as usual no answers from Banksy.

View the pics for yourself on Banksy's website: banksy.co.uk.
Read about Chris Burden's astounding performance art of the 1970's including "You will never see my face in Kansas City".