Catching New Yorkers Catching Banksy

New York is currently all in a tizzy over "Better Out Than In," a month-long "residency" by British street artist Banksy. It started October 1, with Banky's posting of this photo, a clue to the location of a piece he created on the Lower East Side. In less than 24 hours, it was defaced and removed. The same thing is happening to most of the other work he's been putting up, which is quickly turning his daily website postings into immediately-must-know info if you want to see his art before it disappears.

I got lucky this morning and figured out the location of today's piece in one of my favorite places for graffiti-hunting: Red Hook. The 'hood neighbors mine, so I hopped on a bus and got a chance to see "helium balloon" in all its unspoiled glory. "It's less than three hours old," another art-spotter said to me, just as it started to rain. "It's like we're seeing a newborn baby."

I'm now very curious to see how this little guy will grow and change over the next few days. Because the end of that spray-painted string is simply BEGGING for something to hang off it--I mean, other than just a few New Yorkers with iPhones and Instagram accounts, don't you think?

[UPDATE: It's already been tagged! That was fast--check it here.]

 

 

More Lovin' from ESPO

Artist Stephen Powers' "Love Letter to Brooklyn" isn't the only love he's spreading around in downtown BK. These two other buildings are also just as eye-popping. I dig that the sign in the top photo is actually supposed to be related to the pizza place below it (those red circles in "YOU" are, um, slices of pepperoni)--read about the debacle here.

"Love Letter to Brooklyn" from Stephen Powers

When you're a word nerd like me, there's something breathtaking about emerging from the subway and suddenly being surrounded by this project by artist and sign painter Stephen Powers (tag name: ESPO). Powers' painted text wraps around a parking garage outside the Macy's in downtown Brooklyn, and you just can't help but walk around it with wide eyes and a big dorky smile on your face. (Or, at least, I can't.)

According to this interview by WNYC, the piece was "largely inspired by conversations he and his team of a dozen painters had with people passing by the parking garage." If you're in the area, get down to Hoyt and Livingston and really take a long walk around it...in addition to the words, it has this interesting theme of painted hands. You can also see nearby details that may have inspired the shape of the text--the small black-and-white entrance sign to the parking garage, for example, or the 99-cent stores that surround the garage.

For the record, I would totally let this guy go nuts on the walls in my apartment. Beyond awesome.