BanksyBanksy Inside

Violent Gentrification

Slightly weird to see this picture of a row of riot police on capturing banksy in front of Banksy’s Mild Mild West piece depicting a similar scenario. It was taken in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol last week and reporting at the time suggested the placement of a Tesco’s Express in the area much to the chagrin of locals kicked the whole thing off. Daily Mail readers may wonder what is wrong with a Tesco Express, local retailers often forced out of business know only too well. If you want to find out more have a look here where the many reasons Tesco is not welcome are explained. Tesco is a subject previously tackled by Banksy in Essex Road and St Leonards and now in the form of a poster at £5 a time as a benefit for the Peoples Republic Of Stokes Croft and associates. You’ll have to travel to Bristol and queue up (orderly please) this Saturday at the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair to get one. See picturesonwalls.com for details.

I’ve always viewed the self styled ‘The Peoples Republic Of Stokes Croft’ a bit like the residents of Burgundy in that classic film ‘Passport to Pimlico’. The cultural style of an area would be pretty much removed as soon as the standard issue Tesco Express, Costa Coffee, Greggs et al have done for the independents and turned it into a shopping parade like any other. Naturally you can object with petitions and expensive legal challenges but chucking bricks and paint at the thing have definitely resulted in a louder voice being heard this time round.

MOCA notes

A few more details have emerged via a leaflet at MOCA on Banksy’s contributions to the ‘Art In The Streets’ (cough, cough) show.  The graffiti church window previously shown was apparently a joint effort involving local school children. The real (but very dead) dog turns out to have been unclaimed from a taxidermists freezer for seven years after the owner failed to turn up. b.Land has a nice set of pictures on his Flickr stream with plenty of detail. There’s also a couple of new exhibits including Yogi Bear making an appearance under the roller.

MOCA’s hypocrisy in on the one hand celebrating graffiti and in the other buffing it continues unabated. I’d expect nothing less.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *