Banksy Responds to Oscars

Banksy finally responds to the Oscars.

Banksy finally issued his response to the Oscars, only the new piece is not in LA, it is in Weston, UK.

The SWNS broke the story that this new stencil has gone up so recently that the paint is still wet. It has not yet been verified on Banksy's website, but we think this does look like a Banksy.

This new piece features a little girl, who is assumed to be 15-month old Lara Egan, who dropped and damaged her fathers Oscar statue..

It seems that Banksy might have been a little bit put off by not winning the Oscar, and we were disappointed that he didn't issue a rebuttal in LA. This new piece seems to say 'I'm going to take my ball and go home', and at the same time poke fun at the very idea of the award.

Banksy has reportedly said, "The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me."

Missed Opportunity for Banksy?

Is this a missed opportunity for Banksy in LA?

This is a version of Banksy's 'This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant' painted in the same style as Banksy's 'Is There An Elephant in the Room?' from his Barely Legal show in Los Angeles a few years back.

Clearly, this is not what Banksy put up on the 'Elephant'. It would have required more work, but would have been much more clever.

This was sent in to us by Snyder of Snyder Art and Design who wonders if Banksy might be slippin with this missed opportunity?

And we are sitting here wondering if Banksy is slippin by not issuing a response to the Oscars? His true fan base never cared whether 'Exit' won or lost. We loved the art. And we loved the context that the art was given as it drew hype to the nomination. But Banksy's silence since the ceremony has been disappointing. We never felt that the new art was solely a publicity campaign, but if Banksy gives up after losing, it starts to seem that way.

We think that if this has always been art, and not the award, why not keep the conversation going after the awards have been handed out? Get the last word in, as it were, and as we've come to expect from Banksy. But so far, and at this poing, to leave it hanging seems like a big missed opportunity.

Banksy Gets An Oscar On the Mantlepiece

Banksy might not have won at the awards, but an Oscar still found its way onto his mantle piece. Banksy's 'Chalk Picture' in Camden was decorated with an Oscar. Click the jump below for more

Banksy's Chalk House got some new decorations, as an Oscar statuette was added above the fire place, in addition to some tags to the upper left.

We appreciate the way that this interacts with the piece, and even the tagged signatures of the addition are put on the side, and not over the piece itself.

From the Banksy Forums

Gold Rush

Last night, in honor of Banksy and the Oscars, bricks of gold were placed in front of street art in LA. Click the jump for more

Gold bricks saying 'Gold Rush' were placed around the city last night, reportedly as a nod to Banksy and the Oscars.

The bricks placed in front of the Crayon Soldier were gone within an hour, but the others were still around late into the night.

WANTED: Banksy

It was a bit anti-climatic that Banksy's 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' did not win an Oscar, but we just want to say that it has always been about the art.

And even though Banksy didn't win, LA sure scored with Banksy coming to town and putting up some more work.

Still, Banksy always seems to get the last laugh. And we are waiting to see exactly what pranks Banksy will now pull.

Thanks to Sa//y for the stencil picture of what the supposed Banksy really looks like.

The Oscar for Best Performance By A City Goes To . . .

The City of Angels.

This is a new piece from Desire Obtain Cherish the day after having their previous piece cut out of the wall at this same spot yesterday. Click the jump for more

Not sure if Desire Obtain Cherish is awarding the Oscar to Los Angeles for the massive art grab from the day before, when 6 pieces of street art from local artists, including Desire Obtain Cherish, were cut out of the wall by the owner.

Or maybe the meaning is something else entirely.

But you can see on the wall how the cut out piece is merging together with the white of the wall.

Big thanks to John Wellington Ennis for the pic.

Banksy At The Oscars -"Shenanigans Are What He Does"

The Oscars are only a few hours away, and most of us are on the edge of our seats waiting to see what antics Banksy has planned for tonight. Click the jump for more

Will Banksy show? If he does, will he wear the mask? And he's got to have some sort of prank up his sleave.

"Shenanigans are what he does", as Bruce Davis, Executive Director of the Academy Awards told NPR.

We can't wait to see how tonight plays out!

Mr. Brainwash Hits Up Hollywood

It seems that according to Mr. Brainwash, Banksy has already won the Oscar. Fresh new work from Mr. Brainwash in Hollywood. Click the jump for more on this MELROSEandFAIRFAX exclusive

Mr. Brainwash puts up new artwork with a little boy snapping pictures with a camera, and a Banksy-fied Oscar statue wearing a hoodie.

For those who are interested in seeing the Mr. Brainwash piece in person, it appears to located at 6675 Hollywood Blvd.

Big thanks to Christopher Listak for snapping the photos and sending these pics!

The Oscar for Best Performance By A Country Goes To . . .

Desire Obtain Cherish marches forward with their Oscar themed street art. Click the jump below for more

People seem to think these pieces are from Banksy. These are not Banksy, but LA artist collective Desire Obtain Cherish.

They have been doing some very cool stuff around town, including this piece which awards an Oscar to Egypt for 'Best Performance By a Country'.

On Melrose.

Banksy Is Welcome At The Oscars

Rumors have been swirling that Banksy wouldn't be allowed at the Oscars in a mask. Turns out, he has a lukewarm invitation.

Pete Hammond just reported in his interview with the President of the Academy Awards, Tom Sherak, who says that "If he shows up, I won't stop him."

Wonder if Banksy will show up, masked to accept the award?

And if he does win, as the BBC asked us, does winning an award like this make him any less cool?

Banksy Gets Saved!

Another Banksy gets boarded up, but this time its to protect it. Click the jump for more

Banksy's Crayon House Foreclosure got covered today - with plexiglass.

The owner of the building wants to preserve the Banksy piece and possibly sell it. And in the meantime, to protect it, he put up a layer of plexiglass in front of the piece.

We really like to see this proactive stance to preserve a Banksy piece, and hopefully this will work. It would be awesome if it could even be kept on display like this.

Big thanks to Dennis for sending in these timely shots. Way to be the man on the spot!

Desire Obtain Cherish - Gears Up for the Oscars

'Desire Obtain Cherish' has been doing some really cool Oscar themed pieces of art around town.

Meanwhile, these guys are getting ready to cut out another chunk of wall with a street art stencil on it . . . click the jump for more

Lol, the guys are workmen who look to be cutting out a section of the wall at Joyrich on Melrose with a Free Humanity stencil on it as part of the remodeling.

And Desire Obtain Cherish is going for a ride up top a human size Oscar statue.

Banksy At The Oscars

Reminiscent of the MELROSEandFAIRFAX exclusive of 'Ricky Gervais Was Here' tagged onto the Beverly Hills Hilton, the home of the Golden Globes a few days after his controversial hosting gig, Banksy leaves his mark at the Oscars, this time on The Simpsons.

Click the jump for more

Banksy's earlier Simpsons has been as smash hit and has been watched over 6 million times on youtube.

And Arrested Motion is reporting that Banksy leaves a tag backstage when the Simpsons visit the Oscars. Not sure if this has aired yet, but it is on Season 22 episode 14.

Exclusive First Jump Pics of Banksy's 'This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant'

Once again, MELROSEandFAIRFAX get an exclusive night time shots of Banksy's 'This Looks a Bit Like an Elephant'. Click the jump for more

MELROSEandFAIRFAX uber supporter, Keith Toll, tracked down Banksy's 'Elephant' on sure grit and will alone.

He knew that it was somewhere on PCH, and even though it was "dark, wet, and messy" Keith still managed to locate the elephant. Enjoy these night time pics from Keith, and stay tuned to MELROSEandFAIRFAX for more up to the minute releases.

***For those interested in the location see Banksy's Elephant, the directions are in the previous post***

New Banksy Street Art in LA

Preamble for the Oscars?

Reportedly, a new Banksy stencil has appeared in LA featuring a child holding a machine gun shooting crayons for bullets.

We got this pic from Frank 151 although we have not yet verified that it is new or its location.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX takes pride in having original pics and content, and we would love to go shoot some exclusive pics. Anyone know where this is located?

Banksy Wins an Oscar -from Mr. Brainwash

Mr. Brainwash decided not to wait for the official Oscar results. Apparently, he has already awarded Banksy and 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' the prize for best documentary with this new street art piece on his studio building front.

Click the jump for loads more pics, exclusive to MELROSEandFAIRFAX

Some folks are chattering about how Mr. Brainwash still might be Banksy, or pulled by his strings. We are not buying that. We believe that Mr. Brainwash is his own madman of an artist.

It is typical to project onto something that is a mystery. We did something similar ourselves, and when we moved to LA, we thought everyone from Free Humanity to Homo Riot was part of Mr. Brainwash (and half a dozen more individual artists, as well)

Anyways, enjoy these exclusive shots of the new work at Mr. Brainwash's studio.








^Maybe Mr. Brainwash shouldn't have grabbed his stormtrooper images from pics taken at ComiCon. These guys are looking pretty podgy~