GRAFFITI

British Artist Banksy Stages Guerrilla Street Art Show in New York City

The elusive artist launched his month-long residency in the Big Apple with a cheeky graffiti painting on the Lower East Side.

Get ready, Big Apple—Banksy is back.

After “Banksy Oct 2013” posters began appearing around Los Angeles weeks ago, rumors have been flying that the elusive and anonymous British artist would be coming stateside to stage one of his famous guerrilla graffiti projects that turn empty walls into high-priced works of art.

The mystery of where Banksy’s show would pop up was solved on Tuesday, when the first in his series, Better Out Than In, mysteriously appeared on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. (The same day, Banksy’s website announced that the show would be “an artist’s residency on the streets of New York.”) The painting depicted two young boys, one atop the other’s back, reaching for a can of spray paint, and a sign stating “Graffiti is a crime.” As with most of Banksy’s works, the image was quickly tagged and subsequently painted over. Luckily, a new work appeared this morning on Manhattan’s West Side, with the words “This is my New York accent” in iconic graffiti typeface. Underneath, “…normally I write like this” is neat and simple.

With Banksy’s involvement confirmed by images on his blog—as most of his works are—fans are buzzing about where the artist might strike next. Each image in Better Out Than In will be accompanied by a phone number and extension for an audio guide to the works. The artist is not revealing exact locations, but it’s predicted he’ll be doing a piece a day. So, if you see something—say something.

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Justin Jones

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