Richard Hambleton, an artist credited with inspiring Banksy, passed away this week from unknown causes just days before his MoMA show and a month before the release of Shadowman, a new film about his life and work. Here’s an article about him from earlier this year.

The epic rise and disgusting flameout of the artist who ruled 80s New York
by Raquel Laneri
New York Post
April 15, 2017

In the early 1980s, a series of shadowy street paintings - life-size monsters and cowboys - loomed large over the East Village. Anticipating the works of Banksy by more than a decade, the unsigned figures were created under cover of darkness on buildings and bridges. They weren't mere graffiti, but painterly works reminiscent of Jackson Pollock. Downtown residents buzzed about who could be behind them.

The art world knew who it was: a soft-spoken Canadian - often clad in a cravat and sunglasses - named Richard Hambleton.

At downtown galleries, his mysterious figures fetched thousands of dollars more than work by his friends Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He attended parties with beautiful women on his arm, and Andy Warhol begged him, in vain, to sit for a portrait.

Hambleton canvased Manhattan with some 450 shadow men - and managed to get a few on the Berlin Wall, too. But by the 1990s, he was largely forgotten, living in a drug den on the Lower East Side. He was so poor that he would shoot himself up with heroin, then use the blood in his needle as paint. Read more here.

Mutiny of Colours is a documentary in progress focusing on some of the higher-profile graffiti artists of Iran. Priscilla Frank at HuffPo profiles 12 of the artists showcased, with plenty of visuals and access to the trailer. Some of the work is satirical. Some is political. All of it arose in a climate uniquely hostile to this sort of expression.

Artist “Hanksy” shares his opinion of the front-running GOP candidate:

Also, check out Hanksy’s recent tour of Detroit and its graffiti:
“Surplus Candy” :: Episode 2 :: DETROIT

Watch the video

via HuffPo

Street artists in Athens are expressing their economic concerns and frustration with vivid imagery:

See more images from Huff Post Greece.

Graffiti artist Mobstr tells the story with pictures of his grand experiment taunting authorities:

I cycled past this wall on the way to work for years. I noticed that graffiti painted within the red area was “buffed” with red paint. However, the graffiti outside the red area would be removed via pressure washing. This prompted the start of an experiment. Unlike other works, I was very uncertain as to what results it would yield. Below is what transpired over the course of a year.

It went like this:

Continue to next page to see the rest. (more…)

Banksy arrest hoax: Internet duped by fake online report claiming artist’s identity has been revealed
by Ella Alexander
20 October 2014
Independent.co.uk

Banksy has not been arrested, despite a report stating the contrary.

Banksy, AKA Paul Horner, seen here being taken into police custody.(AP Photo/Dennis System)

“The Banksy arrest is a hoax,” the street artist”™s publicist, Jo Brooks, told The Independent.

However, the prank seems to have duped the internet, with his name quickly trending on Twitter.

A false story, published on US website National Report, alleged that the identity of the British street artist had finally been revealed and he had been arrested by London”™s Metropolitan Police and is being held “without bail on charges of vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering and counterfeiting”.

The story claimed that Banksy”™s London art studio had been raided, where “thousands of dollars of counterfeit money along with future projects of vandalism” were found, along with ID thought to belong to the famed anonymous street artist, which allegedly identified him as Liverpool-born Paul Homer.

However, a quick Google search shows that the quotes were originally published in 2013 on hoax website on PRLog. Read the rest of the story here.

From Street Art Utopia

Watch the video:

More than a dozen street artists from around the world, including New York, Britain, the Czech Republic and Hawaii, traveled at the behest of Artists 4 Israel to the Golan Heights, where, with $12,000 worth of spray paint, they left their mark on the edge of this 1.8-mile-wide demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria.

“Most of the group”™s time, and paint, was spent at the military and intelligence base, a huge two-story structure that a local tour guide said was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The guide, Chen Kristal, said it had been the headquarters for the Syrian top brass, and that the famous Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was eventually hanged in Damascus, had also been stationed there.” New York Times

Read more and view additional photos here

An unknown artist paints recipes for healthier meals over fast food ads in Cologne, Germany:

via FastCo

Banksy”™s Nazi-Doctored Painting Raises $615,000 Online
by Katya Kazakina
Bloomberg
November 1, 2013

A whimsical painting by elusive British artist Banksy sold for $615,000 at on online auction yesterday.

Housing Works, which provides support for homeless patients living with HIV/AIDS, said it received the painting around 11 a.m. Tuesday, when a woman walked into its thrift shop near Gramercy Park to drop off what was then an anonymous donation.

“She said the painting is worth a lot of money and that someone will contact us about it,” said Rebecca Edmondson, director of public relations at Housing Works. (more…)

From Marcy LaViollette: Banksy has taken up residency on the streets of NYC for the month of October, 2013

From Banksy’s Better Out Than In Website:

October 6 – No posts today due to shocking footage found on YouTube:

October 5

A New York delivery truck converted into a mobile garden (includes rainbow, waterfall and butterflies) will visit a different location every evening from dusk.

Images found around town (some have already been tagged over) from October 2nd & 3rd: (more…)

From Emerson Dameron:

Code Graffiti Contains Hidden Messages
by Kristen Nozell
August 16, 2013

A new kind of street art featuring coded messages is emerging across the UK in anticipation of international technology festival Campus Party, also known as “˜Glastonbury for Geeks.”™ The renowned event commissioned the series in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the team that went on to break the Enigma code and as a method to build buzz leading up to festival, which will take place during the first week of September at London”™s O2 center.

The complex street art includes Morse, JavaScript and Binary codes, ready to be decoded by tech-savvy viewers, alongside images of coding celebrities Alan Turing, Samuel Morse and Tim Berners-Lee. Those who successfully decode the messages and enter the correct response on the Campus Party website will be entered to win two free tickets to the technology festival. The works are appearing in various cities across the country, including London, Manchester and Birmingham, throughout the month of August, and are also available to view (and decode) on the Campus Party website.

Watch the video: (more…)

More great urban art from Street Art Utopia:

As seen March 2012 in Chiang Mai, Thailand:

Lace Fence by Demakersvan:

In Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Felipe Carrelli. A car was abandoned 2 years ago. It burned and Filipe and his friends decided to make a garden on it. Before, during and after the intervention!

(more…)

Saber, Graffiti Artist, Fights To Lift Mural Ban In LA
by Andrew Reilly
Huffington Post
October 14, 2011

For the artist Saber, participation in the democratic process has always been complicated. He’s an international graffiti legend, holding the world record for the largest graffiti piece, done along the LA river in 1997. Despite its place in the history books, the city of Los Angeles spent a whopping $837,000 to paint over it in 2009. Now Saber is approaching public art laws from a different angle, spearheading an effort to reform Los Angeles’ mural policies.

At the moment, LA’s regulations don’t begin to reflect the city’s vibrant public art culture; uncommissioned murals are banned outright, even if the mural is painted on private property with the consent of the owner. Violators are subject to serious punishment, as was the case with prominent LA artist Revok, who received 180 days jail time over various vandalism charges. (more…)

From See No Evil Project – Nelson Street Bristol

From YouTube:

This is See No Evil, the UK’s largest street art project.

72 artists including some of the biggest names in graffiti in the world descended on Nelson Street in Bristol, painting masterpieces through the night to create a permanent cultural legacy for the city.

Dozens of buildings, a bridge, 6 mega cranes, 326 metres of street, 26 scaffold towers, 325 litres of emulsion, 13,400 cans of paint and thousands of happy visitors

See it through the artist’s eyes and get a sneaky peek at some amazing pieces of art.

Organised by Inkie, Team Love and Weapon of Choice with the support of Bristol City Council and Nelson Street’s building owners, we celebrated the project with an NYC style block party and three ‘Hear No Evil’ events in the incredible disused Westgate building.

Recorded over a week and edited in just 8 hours, special thanks go to Hurricane Media for this video.

Take a look and then come on down and see it for real…

Read more at Huffington Post.