Have Gangsta rats taken over? I can think of a few names.
“Last of Banksy”? No worry, as far as I know Banksy is alive and well. I’m just running out of material. Banksy’s. No fear. Plenty of other stuff. Those are my last photos of Banksy’s fab’ expo last year in Paris. Enjoy.
“Fly, fly…” sang Nat King Cole in a – oh so – distant past.
Wagner’s Walkyries come to mind. Apocalypse “now”?
I can’t help but feeling concerned that the Tramp claims the “support of 200 generals”. Correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t the Army pledged to the Constitution first and foremost?
Stood up.
Artificial intelligence. The way of the future… Have you tried making an appointment with any service provider lately? “Press 16 if you want to talk to a robot”
My credit cards are all maxed out.
“Stand back and stand by.” I heard it from da man. Cross my heart. I joke you not.
Dedicated to David Frost, the umpteenth non-negotiatior of Brexit for the UK.
Better polish my blade, said the Reaper, lots of work to come.
“Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy…” (Hamlet, c.1603)
“The soft parade has now begun
Listen to the engines hum
People out to have some fun
Cobra on my left
Leopard on my right.”
(The Doors)
“How many times have I told you not to play with fire?”
“Il n’y a rien de plus dangereux qu’une personne qui veut créer un monde meilleur.” Translated from the Frog: Nothing is more dangerous than someone who wants to create a better world. Well. I still prefer that to those who want to create a worst world…
Last of my Banksy references. I don’t always agree with the man (woman?), but it’s all right. S/he makes one think, and we desperately more thinking. (All comments are mine. Not Banky’s)
I wrote this post just a month before the most important election the world has known in years. Yes. The world. Not just America. The Tramp was in the hospital (no comment), no-one knows what will happen. Breaking news: they released him from the loony bin. About two weeks left plus change. Banksy has the right answer:
Thanks for this post. Banksy’s work is strangely appealing, very well executed in mostly a kind of sinister enviroment. Intelligent graffiti. Lingering doom. Your pictures tell it all. (And the citations add! I now for the first time truly see the beauty of Shakespeares line from Hamlet.)
Dankje wel. Shakespeare is my master. 4 centuries old and there’s nothing new. Read Macbeth. In English. “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day till the last syllable of recorded time…”
A wonderful selection of thought-provoking images!
Thank you though the real thought provoker is Banksy. Had to be a Brit! 😉
He or she has certainly managed to keep a sense of mystery but they certainly get around 😉
He (I believe he’s a He) is from Brighton I understand. (Only time I went to Brighton – in the summer – really froze my…)
Ha … the coldest winter you ever spent, was the summer you spent in .. 😉
LOL. It’s what mark twain said about San Francisco… And I agree with him.
Going back to Brighton, it was sunny but a bl..dy wind was blowing through the streets. And people were actually in the water! 🤣
😉
Art is rather bleak, unlike your usual fare. However, fits the circumstances. I love the barcode leopard. Hope to have better news for you within 30 days.
“My usual fare”? 😀 One tries one tries.
Though one cannot ignore the fires burning everywhere. And Banksy is very good at painting them.
Look forward to the better news…
PS. Hope all is well with you?
Ask me in four weeks, after the election;)
I know. I must confess I am extremely concerned.
Send good thoughts our way…
I do it every day. 🙏🏻
Would love to see a real live Banksy one day.
I did. See one. By pure chance in Paris in the Latin Quarter, near Saint-Germain. I saw a guy taking pictures of a wall. I got closer. There was a rather damaged small painting of a mouse protected by a rigid plastic sheet. The guy was American, he told me: “That’s a Banksy.”
“You’re sh..ing me!”. “Nope. Look closer.” he was right.
Now the expo was almost like seeing real Banksy’s. One of the staff told me it had been easy for them because they had stencils… Wow!
You will see a Banksy some day.
Cool!!!
Glad to hear from Banksy again. Wonderful post.
Glad you liked it Coeur de feu…
(Your weekly selection is waiting in my mail.) Tschüss.
Wonderful post dear Brian. Tschüss!
🙏🏻💕
Great post here , I love it! 💞
Viel dank für das reblog. (das? der?) 😉🙏🏻
Gern geschehen Brian!
gut sein! 🤗
Percutant !
Un homme probablement si j’en cois la seule photo que j’en ai vue … où on ne voit pas sa tête et sans certitude que ce soit lui malgré le fait qu’il, probablement, se cache derrière une pancarte marquée Banksi.
Merci, Brieuc, et prends bien soin de toi.
Oui, c’est probablement un homme. Il semble qu’il ait “redécoré” son apart pendant le confinement, et “sa femme” was not pleased… A+
A lot going on here and yet my mind got stuck at robot calls. They were talking about that at work today. Customer service managers are going to give it a try 😬 I honestly don’t think you need to try everything just because it’s out there!!
Automated customer service totally sucks. It’s writte/programmed by computer people who don’t have a clue about the business. Then managers don’t have a clue about computers, and the result is twofold: 1) Customers are pi..ed. 2) Humans are fired because the machine does it all. Alegedly.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
Best wishes.
(Unless I get fired first!!)
it is a possibility. 🤣
No worry. You’re young. You’d find a better job. (I have a feeling you don’t like this one too much anyway)
🤷♀️
I just love the fact, how despite all the speculations, Banksy is still a mistery. And when I think about it, I don’t really desire to find out his identity; we can’t deny that anonymity creates its own invaluable buzz. I love his art and messages that comes with it. Thanks for sharing and have a good day. Ireland is back into lockdown and we are staying close to home. Aiva 😊
Mystery suits him.
Lockdown is looming again in France and Spain. Here it still goes on. Let’s make the best of it.
Stay safe.
Thank you for the Banksy and your running commentary. As for the creature who was unleashed from the loony bin, we watched him on the news night tossing masks into a moshpit of his cretinous minions and then exclaiming how he wanted to kiss everyone in the crowd on the mouth. And just in case the emetic effect wasn’t immediately felt, he repeated it several times.
“The creature form the black lagoon”. The man is raving mad. I read – or dreamt – that dexamethasona, the corticoid that is normally administered in hospitals, can produce delirium. 🤣🤣🤣
I don’t think his delirium is pharmaceutically induced.
Neither do I. But it seems to be getting worse…
It’s definitely getting worse.
But there is always hope, right?
All I can say at this point is that I hope there’s hope.
Hehe! Let’s keep the fire on.
Shoveling the coal as we speak!
There is always hope. Hoping the messages by Banksy get through. Ah yes, tRump and melanoma – was it just a stunt, three days? Very little known about all those who said they tested positive in the mob house. Just adore the work of Banksy, a true prophet for our time.
“Melanoma”? 🤣
It may have been a stunt. I wouldn’t put it past the Crook in chief.
Such a provocative artist. I’ve only recently come to know of him (I dunno why I also assume it’s a him) and appreciate this here post!
All rumours point out that he is a He. Now that would also be the perfect cover for a woman artist. 👩🎨
Indeed it would!
Love Banksy. Despise the Tramp. There is always hope. One thing that keeps my hope alive is contact with people living outside of our insane country who also care about the scary behavior that continues sans cesse. Thanks for the post.
People anywhere. I think we are all in the same circle. I only know of one loony who votes for him, the brother of a dear friend of ours. And he’s no redeneck. He just does it for all the tax refunds he got… 😡
Ah! There was also a French lady in Paris, a gallery owner, who started saying “so maybe Tr*mp isn’t so bad?” Half joking half not. I chewed her head off. I don’t know where his idiot voters are.
“Sans cesse”? Justement, il faut que ça cesse… 🙏🏻
Sadly, I know more than a few Trump supporters. Knowing their reasons for supporting him doesn’t explain things either. “Tax refund” is selfish but at least tangible. Yesterday, a very talented friend and Trumpeter (just noticed the verb peter in there) posted something about Trump being “the most pro-life president ever”. The man was vocally pro-choice up until 2008 or so. Even when he was a self-proclaimed Dem, I would never have voted for him. It’s extremely disheartening when I see people that I respect (at least on some level) making that choice. Sorry to rant on your lovely post. Du courage!
Ranting is fine. It is part of Camus’ “rebellion”. One of first things dictators do is shut people up.
Living in the US, I can imagine you know many “Trumpeters”. 🎺 🤣
One of the many – scary – things today is the absolute impossiblity of rational discussion. I had a friend form Barcelona. Spanish. Not Catalan, though he spoke both. He would tell me it was impossible to discuss the issue of autonomy/independence with Catalans. Everybody went berserk.
That is the problem with fanatics.
Courage indeed.
Your photos speak of different subjects….nice Brian 🙂
‘Pleasure Arlene.
Wonderful group of B’s work. And love your comment about people focused on making the world better not worse. Interesting times. Can’t wait to see what happens in a few weeks.
Yep. Biting my nails. This may determine the near future of the entire world.
I love his work. This was a fabulous post. Thank you and the insanity continues.
We need more artists like him. As for the insanity… They have a saying here: “all ends up falling by its own weight.”
(PS. I think he faked the virus thing)
Pingback: The last of Banksy — Equinoxio | Rethinking Life
Reblogged this on House of Heart.
Lovely work. Pretty cleverly done and brilliantly displayed. Thank you so very much. Have an amazing day. Love ❤️ to you and yours Joni
Thank you. Joni. Likewise.
💖
Hope? Only in the hearts of the naive that still think life will go back to how it was before. It won’t. Actually for most of us life will end prematurely. Proof.
Humanity has been able to create great art in many ways and shapes – Banksy here being a good example -, but the tragedy is that its fate has always been decided by those impotents who couldn’t create anything but chaos and destruction. Maybe it was like that by design, or maybe the design was flawed from the start. Doesn’t really matter anymore.
By the way, that documentary on Banksy that I linked to in some previous post says he is from Bristol and there’s even a short interview with him under the guise of a hood. Darn, there goes the mystery…
And now, if I may, will go polish my own blade. Won’t go down without a fight. Good luck everyone!
Hi Dragos. I see you’re still for the fight. (Let’s all polish our blades)
And you’re right about Bristol. I got mixed up with Brighton…
Stay safe my friend.
I have nothing left to lose.
Take care
You too.
Very fab post!!!
I found 1 Banksy, once. A wall is a big weapon, and a LOUD one.
Neat shots of the masters work. Thank you!
My pleasure Resa.
Did you post it? It was behind a wire mesh? Or inside a closed area?
https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/2014/05/22/i-%e2%99%a5-banksy-because-of-my-month-with-banksy-october-2013-in-nyc-by-jacqueline-hadel-plato/
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🙏🏻
Beautiful. Such varied and wonderful work.
Glad you liked it. Banksy is a fascinating artist.
You had me worried there for a minute with your title!
Whew, great post.
Haha! The intent was there of course. But no, we should hear more of him for a good while hopefully. Take care.
Banksy, un maître du street art…
Absolument. Comment ça se passe avec le “couvre-feu”? Ça n’en finit pas, n’est-ce pas? J’avoue être inquiet pour la France…
Comme tu dis : ça n’en finit pas ! J’espère que nous ne sommes pas en route vers un nouveau confinement…
Prends soin de toi, Brieux
Je ne pense pas que ce soit faisable. L’économie n’y résisterait pas. Mais quand je lis que la capacité en Réa est toujours de 5 000 lits, je me dis que nos gouvernants n’ont rien appris… Dans le privé, ils seraient déjà virés. Mais, comme disait Kipling, ceci est une autre histoire…
Biz
Another brilliant post, Brian. Banksy is a favourite, I haven’t seen all of his/ her artwork so this was great and the messages conveyed are on point . I loved this post even more because your comments were the seasoning that made this dish even more splendid. Seriously, how do you do it ? I’m in awe .
I’m blushing. Glad you enjoyed the post. (Did a couple before, they’re probably linked below that post).
How do I do it? Er… Good question. I think it’s training. I had a Market research company. Which meant “interpreting” stuff. Data. Percentages. Verbatims from customers. To do that, you need to keep an open mind and let the “object” speak to you. let’s say I have graph, a time-series, I need to comment in one phrase. The data speaks for itself. Just training.
Anyway, thank you so much for the visit and comment. I hope all is well? 🙏🏻
Ok ! Now I’m jealous . You make it sound so easy but it’s not! I do appreciate you sharing the science behind it . Also seen all the Gangsta rat posts. Banksy is incredible!
He is. I wasn’t much “into him” until I started to develop an interest in street art…
Have a great week-end.
Great photos Brian! The stick style girl was really unusual. Did he do more of those; I’ve never seen any before?!?
The girl with the burning tyre? It’s unusual, but I don’t remember seeing more in the expo.
Imagine humanity working towards a better world…how novel!
It would be. Though I sincerely think the 19th century and 20th (with their setbacks) did work towards a better world… It can be done. (“We can do it”)
Yes, we just need a revolution!
I have severe issues with revolutions. (Though I’m a big fan of the French revolution) Revolutions usually end up in blood baths… But then wars do too, and I can see war looming ahead.
I too can see war looking…with economies collapsing around the world, the elite will want wars to make them more money.
The war in Irak was a good example…
Yes, it only needs mass lies and panic for the sheeple to believe we need another war. It won’t be the first time as we know…
Human gullibility is fascinating isn’t it? It’s all contained in the title of a great French philosopher’s – extremely difficult book – “Memory, History, Oblivion”. People have already forgotten.
Yep. People suffer from short-term memory loss when it’s convenient. We’re cynical aren’t we?
Yep. as a species we suffer from severe engineering failures… 😉
These are a treat to see, Brian. It’s a thrill to see a Banksy on the street.
Thank you Jane. Glad you liked it. And yes, it was a thrill. Most are destroyed in 2-3 days. A shame really. Hope all is well with you. Have a great week ahead. (We can still pretend it’s a “normal” week. Before the last week before Election.)
Be good.
That’s a shame! 🐀
You, too. Have a great week.
Great post gathering all this together. I do like graffiti when the artist is talented. Not the ugly though.
Agree totally. There is a major difference between sreet art, of which I’m a big fan, and tags and graffiti… have a great week Charlotte.
I LOVE Banksy!!! My heart nearly dropped when I saw the title of this post, thinking either he had died or laid down his artist’s tools. No worries … he’ll do more and then you’ll have some new ones to post … I hope!
An aside, as re Trump and the generals. Trump’s brag is just that, hot air like everything that comes out of his mouth. A number of generals, both retired and active, have confirmed that their oath of loyalty is to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump. I believe, especially given information recently come to light about Trump’s denigration of the military, calling them “suckers” and “losers”, that they will uphold their oaths to the Constitution. Let us hope, though, that it doesn’t come to such a showdown, for enough damage has already been done here. Sigh. Thanks for Banksy!!! Made me smile!
Haha. Title was on purpose of course. We do wish him a long life of talent. And I’m glad it made you smile.
Glad some generals have made it clear. I’ve lived for too long in countries where abuse of power is common to take that lightly.
Keep smiling.
Banksy always makes me smile! So much talent … and fun, too!
Yes, and frankly I think that under Trump we are on our way to becoming one of those countries of which you speak. If … If he should get a 2nd term, by hook or by crook, I think our demise will be final by 2024. Not hyperbole … I seriously believe that.
It ain’t over until it’s over… Think of France in 1940. Defeated. With a government at Hitler’s beck and call. And then came a mostly unknown general who rallied all those who still wanted to fight… And that general also had to fight Churchill and Roosevelt who each first had their own interests in mind…
It ain’t over until it’s over…
Good point! Thanks, Brian! There is always room for hope.
👍🏻
awesome shots!
Magnifique, merci beaucoup Brian!!!
De rien ma grande. Biz.
The way you’ve taken the artistry of Banksy and made it into something even more artistic with presentation and words ~ beautiful work, Brian. Keeping things real and doing so with art which resonates deeply ~ happy to see this. This goal of making the world a beautiful place has many more followers than those who pride themselves only on power… Keep the optimism flowing 🙂
Dobri den.
Let’s. Though I find it hard sometimes…
Glad you liked the “narrative” strung along Banksy’s work. Little merit of mine: his pieces ring many bells in one’s head…
BTB, your wonderful B&W photos are doing wonders. I’m already on my third sketch based on them. And possibly may come out with a couple more… (Though the exquisite detail of every garment takes time to draw… Will let you know when I post.)
Cheers
Dekuji 🙂
Not bad Czech, with this and pivo you are set to live in here quite happily 🙂 And I will tell you, Banksy has big time fans here in Czech ~ there was an exhibition in Prague with his work… inspirational, although I did not get to see it. Great to hear about your sketches, how great it is to be able to have the skill to sketch ~ how I wish I did, and certainly not for lack of trying. Would take me a decade just to produce a simple stick figure… 🙂 Cheers, enjoy and be safe!
🍻
Banksy has impact. Whether one agrees or not with everything he proposes. Doesn’t really matter.
As for sketching, I was lucky, my mother was a very good sketcher and painter. She taught me when I was a child. Apparently haven’t forgotten. And don’t give up: my father couldn’t draw us “a St-Exupéry sheep” when we were little, then he started painting after he retired, and not bad at all. (I suspect my mother helped a bit…)
🙏🏻😷
I tried to post the following question on your fantastic post, but for some strange reason, it was rejected:
As I “work” my way through sketching some of your beautiful photographs, I have one question for you: are those the members of one tribe or several? They do look like “Plain Indians” to me, based on what little I know of the clothes and headdress… Where were these shots taken? (If I may be so bold?)
Thanks.
B.
Three days and counting, Brian. The anarchist rats were scattered all over East London when I lived there, but my favourites were the ones on a wall along the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament. Three rats carried rocket launchers intending to finish the work of Guy Fawkes (who gets his annual outing in a few days as well). Sadly, I walked past one day and the local council’s anti-graffiti squad was pressure-hosing the rats to oblivion.
Most types of “anti” squad have me worried sick. As does next Tuesday… Stay safe mon ami.