Banksy Beats The Buff

Despite being buffed, Banksy's Crayon Soldier fights back!

It was his first piece in Los Angeles and possibly the most popular. It was a beautiful stencil that brought attitude, and a rainbow of color to the typically black and white discipline of stenciling. And even though it was rumored that Banksy placed the piece at this location behind Urban Outfitters to reward them for selling his book, after a few weeks of riding, the property manager eventually buffed Banksy's Crayon Soldier.

But Banksy's Soldier fights back. Surfacing from up under the green buff paint, the flowers are starting to bloom once again.

It must have to do with some sort of reaction with the paint, but the flowers and a butterfly from Banksy's original piece are coming through the green paint of the buff. If is very clear, and can be seen from 10 feet away.

We always theorized that this piece was based on the idea of using art as a weapon, and these flowers must be something like land mines, that are set to go off long after the battle. Fortunately, these bombs only bring joy.

Very cool to see Banksy's Crayon Soldier fighting back.


^A pic of the wall before the buff.


^How the wall looks now. Not the best light, but the flowers can be seen.


^Flowers





^Close up of the texture breaking through.

Banksy Beats The Buff

Despite being buffed, Banksy's Crayon Soldier fights back!

It was his first piece in Los Angeles and possibly the most popular. It was a beautiful stencil that brought attitude, and a rainbow of color to the typically black and white discipline of stenciling. And even though it was rumored that Banksy placed the piece at this location behind Urban Outfitters to reward them for selling his book, after a few weeks of riding, the property manager eventually buffed Banksy's Crayon Soldier.

But Banksy's Soldier fights back. Surfacing from up under the green buff paint, the flowers are starting to bloom once again.

It must have to do with some sort of reaction with the paint, but the flowers and a butterfly from Banksy's original piece are coming through the green paint of the buff. If is very clear, and can be seen from 10 feet away.

We always theorized that this piece was based on the idea of using art as a weapon, and these flowers must be something like land mines, that are set to go off long after the battle. Fortunately, these bombs only bring joy.

Very cool to see Banksy's Crayon Soldier fighting back.


^A pic of the wall before the buff.


^How the wall looks now. Not the best light, but the flowers can be seen.


^Flowers





^Close up of the texture breaking through.

Banksy's Crayon Soldier at MOCA

Banksy revisits his Crayon Soldier that first showed up in Los Angeles before the Oscars. But this time, it is a 3d version of the crayon gun hanging above the Camden-esque mantle place.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX was the first to break Banksy's return to Los Angeles with his Crayon Soldier piece.

We loved the piece then, and still do. The 3d effect is strong yet still playful, and it really brings the room together.

You can almost see this gun loaded with crayon bullets really hanging over the fireplace at Banksy's home.

Stay loaded~

Banksy's Crayon Soldier at MOCA

Banksy revisits his Crayon Soldier that first showed up in Los Angeles before the Oscars. But this time, it is a 3d version of the crayon gun hanging above the Camden-esque mantle place.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX was the first to break Banksy's return to Los Angeles with his Crayon Soldier piece.

We loved the piece then, and still do. The 3d effect is strong yet still playful, and it really brings the room together.

You can almost see this gun loaded with crayon bullets really hanging over the fireplace at Banksy's home.

Stay loaded~

At Least One Banksy Piece From LA is Going To A Collector

The craze to get a Banksy piece has reached absolute madness. Nearly every new piece of Banksy's was either cut out (caution) or taken down, and we expect most to end up on ebay.

However, we just received exclusive pics from a 'collector' who got a Banksy piece, and assures us that it will not be going up for sale any time soon. Click the jump to see where one Banksy has found a home.

We got sent these pics of the 'No Parking' sign from Banksy's Crayon Soldier in Westwood by a 'collector' who wishes to remain anonymous. This seems to be more of a piece of Banksy, than a Banksy piece. Still, it was an intricate and active part of the Crayon Soldier wall.

The Crayon Soldier was Banksy's first piece to be discovered in LA, and we were the first to launch the coverage. But even before we snapped the first pics, part of the piece had already been buffed off-including the part of the No Parking Sign. We had already covered how the blue and pink butterflies that were part of the original were an important part of the art, because it showed how a street artist, or 'crayon soldier' goes outside the lines. And the way that the crayon drawings spilled onto the No Parking sign and door are key to demonstrating that point.

And the cool thing about this is that even though it got buffed, the paint didn't get fully cleaned off, and you can still see the blue paint from the wing of the blue butterfly on the No Parking Sign. It might not be much, but its there.

It is also interesting to note how the No Parking Sign came to life on its own as artists and fans would place stickers on the sign when they came to view the Banksy. (We love that it has a MELROSEandFAIRFAX sticker on there!). From the pics we have (shown below) this does appear to be legit and the same sign from the Crayon Soldier piece.

Some people have theorized that the 'Crayon Soldier' was aimed at Banksy's frustrations with parking regulations. While we don't think that this is the case, the No Parking Sign is definitely part of the project. Without a doubt, this is clearly just a piece of Banksy, and not the whole installation. But even if it is still only a piece of a Banksy original, it is still a piece of a Banksy original, and how rare is that!

Now that Banksy's Crayon Soldier has been buffed and gone, we think it is really cool that this has found a home with a collector and won't be (supposedly!) going up for sale. Check out the pics below.



^These are exclusive pics of Banksy's Crayon Soldier before it was buffed. You can see the blue butterfly on the parking sign and the pink butterfly on the door that were later buffed before most pics were taken.



And here are pics of the No Parking Sign

Banksy's Crayon Soldier Buffed and Gone!

Today is the day that Banksy died in LA

Today, Banksy's Crayon Soldier was buffed out of the wall behind Urban Outfitters in Westwood.

Nothing remains but a green wall, and a heavily stickered door next to where the Crayon Soldier used to prowl.

It almost seems like it would be better to have had it cut out of the wall!

Losing this Banksy feels open, like when you break up with a lover but its not quite over. Even though its gone, it doesn't seem real, and we still need closure.

We went down to JR's exhibit in Long Beach today, and when we got back our inbox was flooded with viewers giving us the tip. Many thanks to everyone, and big thanks to M&F viewer Evan for sending us these pics.

And on other sad Banksy news, the 'This Looks a Bit Like An Elephant' was also being removed today. Damn. Really?

Pics coming soon.

Jealous People, Sick People

Despite the defacing of Banksy's street art that we have seen in LA, we still love the city. And for every asshole, there are a hundred heroes. Click the jump for more

Here is a video of the guy who doesn't know anything about Banksy, or art, but took the time to clean up Banksy's Crayon Soldier when it was defaced.

He speaks of the "jealous people, sick people" who want to destroy things, but we are glad that most people are like this guy, and we support and admire him for standing up for the good.

Thanks to KLOS for making this video.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX on the BBC - Watch It!

Lots of people have wondered about the face behind MELROSEandFAIRFAX. Well, during this interview with the BBC we got to step from behind the camera out in front of it. If you're interested to hear what we think of Banksy, and see the face behind the curtain, click the jump for more

It was a true honor being interviewed by the BBC. We grew up listening to public radio and would enjoy the BBC daily.

We completely realize that editing has to happen and the quotes aren't always in full, but just to clarify for the readers of this blog, when we talk about what Banksy's Crayon Soldier means, we had just introduced it by saying it is open to the viewer, and this was my interpretation of the meaning, not the meaning.

And, as far as selling out goes. Our opinion is that when you achieve success doing what you've done, and start to get paid the big bucks, that is just a great accomplishment and is 'making it'. It is selling out when you go against the values that got you to the top in the first place. And truly, from what we've seen, the amount of money and attention that Banksy has gotten speaks to how well he is doing what he is doing, and we don't believe he has sold out.

Anyway, we realize that there's always going to be folks who don't like stuff, but we hope most of you enjoy watching this clip!

Thanks Nada and the whole BBC crew! - MELROSEandFAIRFAX

The Wild Things Come Out

All the wild things come out for Banksy. This cool new street art from an unknown artist is just a few feet away from Banksy's Crayon Soldier.

The details are really wild on this creature like the hoof and the talon for feet and the face on the rump.

Dig it~

Another Banksy Piece Goes Missing (And More Drama!)

The 'No Parking' sign from Banksy's Crayon Soldier has gone missing.

And the drama rolls on at the piece with more derogatory etchings and then another face lift. Click the jump for more

While the bulk of Banksy's Crayon Soldier still remains scarred but intact, the 'No Parking' sign that the gun was aimed at has disappeared off the wall. Look for it on ebay any day now.

And someone please take the marker away from this kid! In what looks to be a similar shade and style of marker, some asshole kid wrote 'Take me down & ur a cunt'. No, you are a cunt for writing the message. Look at these poor little kids trying to enjoy the Banksy. Even if it is an attempt to keep the piece on the wall, it is awful, and really ruins the friendly vibe around the piece.

The good news is that the Crayon Soldier has received another cleaning (bottom pic) and this statement, along with the swastikas and other scrawls, and the MBW tag have all been removed, but the Crayon Soldier still stand strong, and still fights on~

If you haven't been to see this piece in person yet, we would highly recommend making the trip sooner rather than later. It is a spectacular piece of art in person, and it might be gone at any time. If you want to see Banksy's Crayon Soldier, it is located on Kinross street, in between Westwood and Glendon.

Thanks to Matthew Love for the pic of the Banksy piece cleaned up. We hope that the Crayon Soldier stays victorious!

MELROSEandFAIRFAX on the BBC

MELROSEandFAIRFAX had the pleasure of being interviewed by the BBC earlier this morning. This pic is the BBC crew talking about how to fit our mohawk in the picture. LOL. Click the jump for more

We have a lot of respect for the BBC news services, and it was a honor to be interviewed by them for a story about Banksy.

We met at Banksy's Crayon Soldier and discussed many different angles of the artist and artwork itself. They asked some provoking questions, perhaps the most interesting being, "If Banksy were to win an Oscar, would it make him more cool or less cool?"

We don't know. We'd love to hear what people think.

And there was some action during the interview as well. Right in the middle of talking, we heard a big "Whap!" and turned around to see a dude running off. He had come over and slapped a sticker on the Banksy wall right in the middle of the interview. And when we say slapped, we mean slapped! Haha, funny stuff.

Banksy Is Under Attack

Banksy's Crayon Soldier was defaced again. Click the jump for more

This is the pic that we posted yesterday as part of the 'family day' set. We didn't want to give it the recognition of a front page pic, but here it is.

Just like most of the most base stuff on the streets, this damage was not done by a graffiti writer or street artist. If it was, they would leave their symbol or tag instead of these senseless marks. Furthermore, street writers can be recognized by their tools, and this is just a coloring book marker, not of the streets. This is just some asshole with a marker.

It has not been cleaned off yet. But this type of marker is not weather proof, and it should fade in a few days.

But perhaps the most relevant concept, and the reason we published this pic, was to address the commentary of Banksy's Crayon Soldier being under attack by the very weapons that Banksy uses. Even if it is abhorrent, this art battle really brings the art to life on a whole new level.

Family Day at Banksy's Crayon Soldier -Unfortunately Defaced Again

Banksy is still a hot spot in LA, and right after we rolled in a bunch of people showed up to take pictures.

We got some cool shots of kids interacting with the Crayon Soldier.

Unfortunately, Banksy's piece got defaced again. It is so shameful we don't even want to give it the credit of a front article feature. But click the jump to see the wrong done to the Crayon Soldier, and also shots of kids playing around in front of the artwork.

Clearly, whoever defaced this Banksy had nothing really to say. Such an absolute shame to scrawl just stupid little marks and swastikas on it. Next time, please say nothing.

Hopefully this will get cleaned right off like the previous marks.

The kids, on the other hand, were awesome! They jumped out of the car and ran towards the piece yelling 'Banksy!!!" And you can see from the interaction in the pics that they really appreciate the piece on a whole different level.

Free Street Art Scavenger Hunt- Bankrupt Slut with Banksy

These scavenger hunts have been a lot of fun, and today Bankrupt Slut dropped off 2 pieces of free street art, one at each of the remaining two Banksy pieces in LA.

These are well hidden. It was purposefully done by Bankrupt Slut so that only the followers of MELROSEandFAIRFAX would find them.

One of these is a rare 'pink' chase figures and it comes with a special prize pack. Click the jump for more info and location details

Out of the 7 dunny's that will be going up as free art around town, only two of those are pink. And Bankrupt Slut put a special prize, a sticker pack, for whoever finds the pink dunny.

The pink dunny is located by Banksy's English Bulldog piece, and another green dunny can be found by by the Crayon Soldier.

Follow the details in the pics to find exactly where!

***UPDATE: We have heard that both pieces have been found, but we have not yet heard from the ones that found them. If you found them send us pics! We love to see what the dunny with the things that you like! Congrats to those who scored~***

***Congratulations TwistidKid!! Nice score~ If you want to send us pics we will be happy to post em. Just checked out your blog. Cool stuff. You should take a pic of the dunny on or in one of those off road crazy things! Congrats again, and stay up!***


(when Bankrupt Slut told us that these were going up by the Banksy's, we knew we had to bring Qtip to get some pics with Banksy. More pics on that to come later, but for now here she is by the pink dunny Bankrupt Slut prize pack.)

^Right across the street from Banksy's pissing English Bulldog is this broken down truck missing a hood. The dunny is in there.


^Qtip in Beverly Hills!

The dunny is on the near side, above where the passenger side tire would be. It is grimey and dirty! We got filthy just taking pics! Be careful, and congratulations to whoever gets this one! Send us pics!!


The green dunny by Banksy's Crayon Soldier is around the corner from Banksy, and down the alley way. It is tucked in the corner behind the orange cone and barricade (you can see a little poke of green popping up!)

Whoever finds these, we would love if you sent us pics! Happy Hunting!