The mysterious graffiti artist Banksy is thought to be back in LA these days leading up to the 83rd annual Academy Awards happening in Hollywood, CA at the end of the month. As you may or may not know, Banksy‘s film Exit Through the Gift Shop is nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar and after a couple of Banksy-like pieces of street art have surfaced here in town, it is widely believed that Banksy is in town to liven up the place ahead of the Academy Awards show next week. Pink reader Sarah sends in a photo of a believed Banksy piece that showed up in Westwood, CA this week.
Sarah tells me that this graffiti can be found on an alley wall off of Kinross between Westwood and Glendon. Additionally, a huge art piece believed to be created by either Banksy or his protegee Mr. Brainwash showed up on La Brea in Los Angeles, CA just a couple of days after the Academy Award nominations were announced last month. LAist reports:
With Exit Through the Gift Shop (aka the Banksy movie) getting a Best Documentary Oscar nomination in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, in the wee hours one morning a few days later this large piece of street art showed up on La Brea at San Vicente, in the oft-used Mr. Brainwash space. There is, indeed, a Mr Brainwash signature next to the giant hoodie-shrouded Oscar statuette (at the end of a sidewalk red carpet, no less) and some showbiz-y busied Storm Troopers hanging around–err…hovering around from above, too. This new work raises a few questions: Is this Mr. Brainwash’s way of getting ready for the media frenzy of the Academy Awards? If Gift Shop wins, who will go onstage to accept? And…is Mr. Brainwash really Banksy?
I absolutely LOVED Exit Through the Gift Shop and I would LOVE if it won the Academy Award. I’d be really interested to see who will show up to accept the award if the documentary wins. It’s kinda crazy how “big” Banksy has gotten and it really blows my mind to think that a pop art graffiti artist may become an Academy Award-winning filmmaker in just a few days. Much love goes out to Sarah for sharing her photo with us … and I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled to see if any other Banksy art pieces go on display here on the streets of LA.
[Source, thanks Sarah]
The kid with the machine gun looks like legit Banksy work. The subject matter, the placement and size, the stencil style, the limited but deliberate use of inappropriately pastel colors for such dark subject matter– all smack of Banksy.
The academy award piece smacks of the inauthentic and talentless Mr Brainwash– the exclusively pop culture subject matter, the haphazard storm-trooper and statue pairing (because hey, storm troopers make neat stencils), the massive scale and publicity level, the use of primary color, even the sort-of-homage paid to Banksy himself– all are Brainwash attributes.
My money is on Banksy creating the first, and his “protege” (as you so kindly put it) slapping up the second. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mr. Brainwash put it up because he knew Banksy would be in LA. It was a message and a tribute. If Mr. Brainwash is actually Banksy, then he has done a fantastic job of ripping himself off and making sub-quality art out of what was beautifully authentic.
I agree. The top one is definitely a Bansky due to the subject. The bottom one, like you said, is just pop culture thrown together. Definitely Mr. Brainwash.
I really hope Exit Through the Gift Shop does win. I want to see if he accepts with the monkey mask on. I find the whole thing facinating.
Great movie! I hope it wins and I hope that he accepts the award. It is such a great art form.
I have seen the documentary several times and took much care in analyzing Banksy and Mr Brainwash’s manuerisms and I do not believe they are the same person. I whole-heartedly agree that the first picture is def a Banksy, he also did on piece on Charlie Brown. However, the second picture could not be farther from Banksy’s style and messages. It has to be a homage to Banksy.
He shoulda won the Oscar.