street art

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As Olympics Loom, Eyes on France's Mystery 'Invader'

Street artist's mosaics have appeared in more than 4K locations around the globe

(Newser) - For the Paris Olympics, it could almost be a new sport: Score points by hunting down mosaics that a mystery artist who calls himself "Invader" has cemented to walls across France's capital, the world, and even had carried aloft to the International Space Station. Vincent Giraud, one of...

Christopher Walken Ruins an Original Banksy

On purpose: Actor painted over a rat in scene from BBC's 'The Outlaws'

(Newser) - In the series finale of BBC comedy-drama The Outlaws , a character played by Christopher Walken paints over an image of a rat below the name Banksy. And here is where fiction meets reality: Not only was the mural an original Banksy artwork, but Walken really did destroy it on the...

Groups Work to Preserve Protest Art
Groups Work
to Preserve 
Protest Art

Groups Work to Preserve Protest Art

Activists want murals painted after George Floyd's death 'to live on'

(Newser) - Neither woman could bring themselves to watch the video of George Floyd's final moments, his neck pinned under a Minneapolis police officer’s knee. But as their city grieved, Leesa Kelly and Kenda Zellner-Smith found comfort in messages of anguish and hope that appeared on boarded-up windows as residents...

Elusive Street Artist Sells ... Coffee Mugs?

Banksy sells kitschy items in online store

(Newser) - Banksy is selling T-shirts, mugs, and pillows. You can read that again. Yes, the world's most famous street artist—whose disdain for commercial success is no secret—has opened an online store selling various tongue-in-cheek products decorated à la Banksy, ARTnews reports. Shoppers at Gross Domestic Product can peruse...

Trump Finally Gets His 'Border Wall'

Around his Hollywood star, that is

(Newser) - Donald Trump finally got his border wall Tuesday—just not where he expected. Los Angeles-based street artist Plastic Jesus erected a 6-inch-tall wall—complete with barbed wire and "keep out" signs—around Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, reports CNN . The display—later removed—also included...

How Banksy Sneaked Into the Gaza Strip

Local resident reports meeting male artist in his 30s

(Newser) - The work of mysterious British graffiti artist Banksy has made an appearance in the Gaza Strip, and a publicist has confirmed to the AP that the artist reached the area through a tunnel; apparently, he sneaked in from Egypt. Local residents were skeptical about this account since Egypt has stepped...

Banksy's LA Gas Station Art Goes for $209K

Station owner removed section of wall containing piece

(Newser) - In 2008, a Los Angeles gas station owner told some street artists they could paint on his wall; now, the Banksy painting—called "Flower Girl"—has sold at auction for $209,000. The 9-foot by 8-foot image features a child with a flower basket being watched by a...

Banksy Sells Art Worth $32K ... for $60 Each

Pieces were authentic, but looked fake

(Newser) - Banksy yesterday sold some of his works at a Central Park stand—pieces worth about $32,000 each. The secretive street artist's selling price, however, was decidedly lower: $60 per work. The collection, which was being sold by an elderly man, looked like it was full of fakes, the...

Banksy Graffiti Taken Off Wall, Sold For $1.1M

Critics say 'Slave Labour' belongs to the community

(Newser) - A Banksy mural taken from a wall in north London was sold for over $1.1 million at a private auction last night. The piece, "Slave Labour," of a young boy sewing Union Jack flags, was sprayed onto the side of a store in 2012. It was removed...

The New Graffiti: Yarn Bombing

Now your grandmother can be a vandal

(Newser) - Graffiti’s latest trend stems from a grandmotherly tradition—and it’s more likely to prompt laughter than arrests, proponents say. Yarn bombers knit sweaters and cozies for public objects from lampposts to cars to mailboxes, the New York Times reports. Victims have included the iconic Wall Street bull and...

Hathaway Dating Another Crook
 Hathaway Dating Another Crook 
allegedly

Hathaway Dating Another Crook

Actress apparently knows how to pick 'em

(Newser) - Poor Anne Hathaway just can’t catch a break in the love department. After dumping jailed scammer Raffaello Follieri, she hooked up with actor Adam Shulman and the world breathed a sigh of relief…until now. Shulman is accused of stealing part of a mural by street artist Thierry Guetta,...

Banksy Film Rocks Sundance
 Banksy Film Rocks Sundance 

Banksy Film Rocks Sundance

'Exit Through the Gift Shop' is one of the festival's hottest tickets

(Newser) - Partially an insider look at guerrilla art, partially a satire of the art world, Banksy’s film-within-a-film is impossible to categorize—but it’s definitely one of the hottest movies at Sundance. Fans lined up in 15-degree weather for the slim chance of getting into the nightclub-like screening of Exit ...

LA Plastered With Obama 'Joker' Posters

(Newser) - Posters of President Obama in Heath Ledger-like Joker makeup from The Dark Knight with a caption reading “Socialism” have sprung up in Los Angeles and Atlanta, the Daily Contributor reports. Similar posters online have the caption “why so socialist?” The guerilla art attacks, not yet claimed by any...

'Hope' Artist Cops Plea in Vandalism Case

(Newser) - Street artist Shephard Fairey plead guilty today to three counts of vandalism for displaying stickers and posters around Boston without permission, the Globe reports. He must pay a fine and is prohibited from carrying the tools of his trade—like wheat paste and brushes—in the county for 2 years....

Fairey Makes 'Pop Masquerading as Art'
 Fairey Makes 'Pop 
 Masquerading as Art' 
ART CRITICISM

Fairey Makes 'Pop Masquerading as Art'

(Newser) - Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama image inspires “a thrill of concerted purpose,” writes Peter Schjeldahl in the New Yorker, but the same can't be said for the rest of Fairey’s work, on exhibition in Boston. While the Obama poster made something new and vibrant, writes Schjeldahl, Fairey...

Bush Street Gets Overnight 'Update' in SF

Pranksters in notoriously liberal city rename thoroughfare, if only temporarily

(Newser) - Partisan pranksters struck San Francisco overnight, covering four blocks of signs on the city’s Bush Street with “Obama Street” signs, NBC affiliate KNTV reports. The covers look professional, and chalk messages on the pavement encourage pedestrians to look up and notice the “change.” A rally is...

Tab Claims It's ID'd Graffiti Artist Banksy

UK guerrilla tagger turns out to have posh background

(Newser) - An exhaustive investigation has uncovered the carefully guarded identity of guerrilla graffiti artist Banksy, the Mail on Sunday claims. The man whose works are coveted by celebrities and sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars is Robin Gunningham, now 35, who attended a posh private school as the son of...

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