Saturday 14 September 2013

Banksy In Britain: LONDON Part 1

Since about 2011, I have consistently tried to make my life seem more exciting by engulfing myself in as much as the arts world offerings that is humanly possible for someone living in the North West of England to engulf. Scores of gigs, three festivals, four West End shows, countless gallery visits, numerous trips to the Capital, a good few foreign city breaks have pretty much ensured that every penny I earn has been well spent.
Yet ironically, one of my favorite arty jaunts ever was 100% free, and is now looked back upon as one of the most satisfying weekends of my life so far.
One August weekend in 2012, I was in London for the Alternative Olympics Closing ceremony in Hyde Park. The days roster of music featured Blur as the headliners, with The Specials and New Order as support (you might have guessed this bit wasn't free), and the city was just an awesome place to be, warmed with Olympic glee and summer happiness. So knowing that your typical tourist centers would be beyond crammed, myself and my then girlfriend decided to realise our ambitions of a London Banksy tour.
 A visit to London a few months before, had seen a first attempt at this, but with nothing but Google images to go on, obviously precipitating failure. Second time round, armed with the outstanding Banksy London Tour iPhone app and a London Tube Map, we planned our tour with military precision, and the payoff was great.
Getting the chance to have my picture taken with each of the works of street art listed in this blog, even in their various states of decay was a genuine privilege. The wonderful thing about these works is that because of the ever changing nature of their surface, and the everlasting threat of Team Robbo is that you will never see them in the same state twice. It is because of this one off feel, that at the moment of seeing these pieces, there's a little romantic voice in your head telling you that the version you are looking at is just for you.
Traveling around London to see these Banksy's took us through areas of London you would not have known existed: some slightly backwoods, and others mysteriously village like for London. It was an experience that made us feel that by seeing these other faces of the Capital, London is now a city we could say we had truly "seen".

I don't think much for the "messages" behind a lot of Banksy's work, they often seems a little obvious, but with the pieces so iconic looking (see their hauntingly prophetic appearance in the outstanding film, Children Of Men); they are just a pleasure to see.
In 2006 the appearance of a grand Banksy mural, wall and all in Children Of Men hanging in a private space seemed quite an absurd vision of future art culture. So it is on sad note that since my tour many of these pieces have since been ripped out of their walls and auctioned to hang out in celebrity homes for just a couple of people to see. Surely it then fails to be street art, and just becomes an expensive smudge of vandalism?
This blog celebrates when the work was in the street, free for all to see and is a tribute to the artist for creating what was an incredible, exciting experience. Plus a huge recommendation for anyone who feels tempted to go on a Banksy tour of their own (hence the info for condition status and best tube station to stick in your Map app to minimise walking distance!). (Please note, some of these where not seen on my August 2012 Banksy tour, but seen before or after. The majority, however, were seen on the properly planned tour).

Master Artist, Portobello Road, W10 5TE. Nearest tube station: Ladbroke Grove
State of existence: PRESENT
 Admittedly, this was one piece I seen a few months before the actual tour, but the Master Artist piece in the highly fashionable Portobello Road Market area is one of the most intact Banksy pieces London has to offer.
Anyone interested in photography would also be advised to turn back towards the market area, away from this piece for a shot of the Westway overpass, highly similar to the set design for Blur's 2012 Hyde Park Show in reference to their fantastic new single at the time, Under The Westway.
Cars parked in front of this piece are likely, so just hope you get lucky with a clear view like this. Ironically, I photographed this purely by accident, and when I went back this year for a picture of me with the piece, a man in a large Land Rover had parked right in front of it, with about a centimeter between the car and the wall! Still, well worth a visit; an added bonus being a large piece by street artist Stik, visible just over the fencing around the adjacent outdoor cinema.

Very Little Helps, Islington, N1 8NE. Nearest tube station: Highbury and Islington
State of existence: PRESENT
Our organized tour of Banksy hunting, began with this largely altered classic! Originally much greyer in colour, and depicting a Tesco bag flying to the morning salute of the onlooking children, we could not help but shout "oh no!" when we discovered the state of this one.
Still after spending a little time taking snaps at the site, a fondness quickly grew, and an anticipation to find as many other Banksy's throughout the city as I could quickly became great.
In all fairness, I have seen pictures where the plexiglass has been tagged much worse, further obscuring even that what is visible here. Plus its only the glass i believe, so on another day all the kids could be visible? The flag does appear to be permanently altered, and that weird tea stain effect is courtesy of London Council in an attempt to preserve the piece. Someone could add a real Tesco bag though; it has happened before!
Regardless of the condition, across the road from this piece is an absolute treat for anyone, like me, who gets a real kick out of seeing massively nostalgic, yet derelict cinema buildings. This one is stunning, and would be the first place I would try to buy and render if I ever won the lottery.
This Banksy is well worth a visit; I could not help but doff my proverbial hat to the kid on the right, still visible without impediment. Hang in there little man.

 
No Ball Games, North London, N15 4ET
State of existence: GONE
Unfortunate that this part needs to be written as an obituary, but the brilliant No Ball Games has since been removed, cut into three segments for reassembly and sale at auction. The only upside being whispers that the profits from the sale will go to charity, it is a real shame the piece no longer sits on its Tottenham wall, as it was both one of Banksy's most iconic, detailed works, and it was in near perfect condition to boot.
Marred only by the Robbo edit of the NO BALL GAMES sign to read BANKSY HAS NO BALLS, even that alteration at least was done by Robbo himself,  and at my time of visiting was near faded enough to reveal the original stencil. You actually see this edit being made in the excellent Channel 4 documentary Graffiti Wars: Banksy vs Robbo. I particularly liked the bit where an excited hipster runs up to Robbo and asks if he is Banksy, to which Robbo just starts a rather nonplussed conversation stating he isn't, and basically just likes fucking up Banksy work. For the record, I don't mind King Robbo, and think the grudges between him and Banksy are amusingly petulant. I do, however, find irritating the whole Team Robbo ethos, effectively random idiots who put this name to highly aggravating spoilers of Banksy work they know people enjoy.
The day we seen this piece, there was a small amount of cordoning due to maintenance work on the pavement, but this was still not an issue and I managed to get some good pictures, although none too close up. The piece will be sorely missed, as there was an extraordinary amount of detail on the faces of the subjects, plus it was also near life size, making it one of my favorite Banksy pieces I have ever seen in reality.




Part 2 Coming Very Soon!


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