René O'Deay gBlog

Broad Strokes- NOLA.com: "--- Clandestine celebrity ---

E-mail blasts, blog notes and a New York Times blurb trumpeted that the British graffiti artist known as Banksy visited New Orleans in the waning days of August, applying illusionistic stencils to scattered sites. Banksy's works address the threats of Hurricane Gustav (a child swinging on a life saver as if it were a tire, for instance) and graffiti eradicator Fred Radtke (a gray workman blotting out sunflowers).

Banksy might be somewhat conflicted by his dual craving for attention (one e-mailer implied that he has a 'representative') and anonymity, but it must be said that his realistic, relevant, trompe l'oeil stencils are a vast improvement over the unimaginative doodling favored by most Crescent City sprayers.
British street artist Banksy has raised the bar far above the usual wall scribbling seen in New Orleans.
Arts writer Doug MacCash can be reached at dmaccash@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3481. Read him online at www.nola.com/arts."

Photos of Banksy work in New Orleans on his website and on flickr.com, one photostream.
Unfortunately the Gray Ghost has already painted over at least one of them.

Wow, Banksy managed about a dozen before Gustav hit, and a few photos and comments made the scene.

I've been begging everyone to ask Banksy to come to New Orleans. Now if we can just stop the Gray Ghost, Fred Radtke.



René O'Deay