This was forwarded to me by a friend... Sketch, you ever see his stuff around?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 563751.stm

Cave art hoax hits British Museum

The British Museum said the rock was "in keeping with the other exhibits"
Fake prehistoric rock art of a caveman with a shopping trolley has been hung on the walls of the British Museum. The rock was put there by art prankster Banksy, who has previously put works in galleries in London and New York.

A British Museum spokeswoman said they were "seeing the lighter side of it". She said it went unnoticed for one or two days but Banksy said three days.

Banksy also hung a sign saying the cave art showed "early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds".

It read: "This finely preserved example of primitive art dates from the Post-Catatonic era.

"The artist responsible is known to have created a substantial body of work across South East of England under the moniker Banksymus Maximus but little else is known about him.

"Most art of this type has unfortunately not survived. The majority is destroyed by zealous municipal officials who fail to recognise the artistic merit and historical value of daubing on walls."

Banksy is best-known as a graffiti artist who has attracted a cult following for stencilled designs that satirise authority and modern society.

He hung his own art in the Tate Britain in London in October 2003, which was not noticed until it fell to the ground, and has done the same in four New York galleries.

The British Museum praised the way his rock was hung and the style of the sign, which was "very similar" to their own design.

A spokesperson for Banksy said he sneaked the work into the museum on Monday and it was found on Wednesday.

He ran a competition on his website for fans to have their photographs taken with the rock, offering a shopping trolley as a prize.

A British Museum spokeswoman said: "We're reasonably confident that it hadn't been up for that long, maybe a couple of days.

"It looked very much in keeping with the other exhibits, the explanatory text was quite similar."

It is now being exhibited at Banksy's new show, Outside Institute, which opens in London on Friday. It will have a sign saying it is "on loan from the British Museum".

The British Museum spokesperson said they were expecting it back when Outside Institute ends in June.

"He has said to us that we can keep it," she said.

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

the fact that the Museum like it kind of takes some of the fun out of it.

but this guys the man.

At least the British have a sense of humor about things. Had this been a US museum they probably would have had the nsa on this guys askig if the rock came from Bin Laden's cave.

yeah this guy is probably the most consistently entertaining person in the art world, if that is indeed where he resides. I made a t-shirt outta this a few years ago:

haha.
it's cool that they have a sense of humor about it, and it pleases me . . . but it takes a dash of the mischief out of it.

Funny, my friend who forwarded the article to me, has that exact same print on a canvas at home. Signed, of course, ha ha.

He's got a ton of hilarious images on his website. I'm partial to the rats. They make me giggle.

Is this the same guy that did LooGAR's avatar? This stuff is brilliant, but I can't say I've seen any of it yet.

Yes. I think he's mostly in South London, but I could be wrong about that.

i know he got started in Bristol and I thought he still worked mostly out of there. This could be wrong though.

Banksy owns.

did he do the Blur album cover?

yep

think tank? i think so...

NOICE! Reprazent.

That piece of graffiti is from Glasgow. Sauchiehall Street if I remember correctly. Banksy has a few pieces dotted around the city.

There are a lot of good graffiti/stencil artists in these them parts Rogue One being one of the most prominent.

banksy strikes again.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... 6&ito=1490

re: the museum's response, i'm not sure they had any other option. he's hit them before, and i'm sure they've noticed how ridiculous museums have been made to look when they've reacted poorly.

new Banksy artwork/installation


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7662627.stm



British graffiti artist Banksy has opened his first official exhibition in New York.

Set inside a fake pet store, works such as a robotic monkey and fish-fingers swimming in a goldfish bowl aim to question the relationship between human beings and animals.

Heather Alexander joined the Manhattan crowds for a look at the surreal menagerie.

That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

damn, i wanna go to that.

haha, those hot dogs were cool.

too bad it closed in october. thanks for the "news," sp. i don't know how i missed this.

Banksy v Bristol Museum Exhibition 2009

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23123614@N00/sets/72157619896844131/

We talked about Banksy at my last Bible study meeting.

I'd never been aware of him before, but the book I got to look at was really interesting.

Haha, they spray bear urine around to create an authentic smell in the pet shop.