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Graffiti artist Banksy leaves mark on Detroit and ignites firestorm


Banksy was here. But what's really fascinating is what happened after he left.


The British-born art world celebrity and provocateur, who hides behind a cloak of anonymity and whose graffiti paintings have made headlines from Los Angeles to London, has tagged Detroit -- most prominently a crumbling wall at the derelict Packard plant.
But only the Packard plant piece has appeared on his Web site, www.banksy.co.uk.

It's unclear when it was painted, but the 555 artists were tipped off May 8 by a friend who saw the work on Banksy's site and recognized Detroit. By Monday, they had assembled a posse of five to 12 workers and began digging out the work. It took two full days to complete the job.
As photos of Banksy's Detroit handiwork spread through the blogosphere this week, critics began questioning the 555 group's removal of the Packard plant painting. At the photo blog detroitfunk.com, one commentator called them thieves rather than rescuers and wrote, "Banksy put it there for a reason, for anyone who cared enough to enter the death-trap to see it."


Staff member Eric Froh said that while the painting's meaning has shifted outside of the Packard plant, it retains an expressive power akin to Renaissance religious artifacts or antiquities uncovered by archeologists and now seen in museums. He also noted that the controversy has already become part of its accumulated meaning.

"The work can now live on for many years," said Froh.

Here is another link with another story.

freep.com/article/20100515/ENT05/1005140 ... rk-on-Detroit-and-ignites-firestorm

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I guess art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder. Until recent budget cuts, there was a city spray truck and paint crew that went around neighborhoods taking care of similar pieces that other artists created in the night. Of course, this from someone who would not have paid a dollar for a painting of a soup can either.

Banksy is a modern cultural icon. While we were in London in December we sought-out Banksy. In some cases it has been protected by the community with plexiglass. My wife (one of the three artists in our family) was in New Orleans earlier this week and found some Banksy there, too.

In general, I abhore grafitti. I find it a blight on community and private property. I know its a matter of personal preference, but Banksy grafitti seem to add more to the wall (his canvas) than damage it.

Interesting art and an ironic statement. You soon won't need to "remember" trees as most of Detroit (similar to my hometown, Cleveland) will soon revert to its natural state. It's sad but shrinking cities such as these are beginning to resemble the ghost-towns of the West.

Bring on the wrecking crews...

well forget Banksy i just want a wall from the Packard plant!

I been in some old factories like that, and a common thing in those days was painting worker morale murals on the walls...

so im lookin for somethin in a giant Packard logo ,
and maybe some naked Packard ladies with their honkers and highbeams and dagmars and junk in the trunk.

or maybe just the Pelican.


p.s. this dude Banksy got everybody fooled. they are tearin walls out of factories for his crappy stencils ????
ridiculous.

that being said, BRING ME THE PELICAN

I doubt even in Packards heyday, you'd have found any ladies on the wall except maybe in the washroom--Conservative Packard, remember--graffiti maybe, grime surely. One of the first things Nance had done upon arrival was paint. Think one of the articles mentioned some of the place hadn't been painted since original construction.