Home Visual Arts It’s now time to meet Bansky’s impersonator- Hanksy: ‘Catch me if you...

It’s now time to meet Bansky’s impersonator- Hanksy: ‘Catch me if you can.’

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Johnny:  Do your Hanksy works represent anything as far as a message such as Banksy’s works have?

Hanksy: Websites and blogs and the people behind them have speculated whether Hanksy is just a silly play on words or perhaps something a bit more. Maybe it’s an attempt to subvert the subversive or perhaps it plays on the uniquely American pleasure the general public finds in trivial imagery with cheap laughs. However I think the message is rather simple. If you add the letter ‘y’ to the end of Hanks, it sounds an awful lot like Banksy.

Johnny: Does the LES influence your works or the placement?

Hanksy: Not unlike the suburban Mayfielfd Place cul-de-sac in The ‘Burbs fabricated town of Hinkley Hills Missouri, Manhattan’s Lower East Side is a vibrant and colorful and interesting neighborhood inwhich dwell in. Naturally you’ve got your Lt. Rumsfields, your Walter Seznicks, and your cooky Art Weingartners. And there’s always the red patent leathered Ricky Butlers ‘just hanging around’ to keep things interesting. All co-existing and collaborating together to form a unique culture of varied individuals. But then the weekend hits and all hell breaks loose. That’s when Hans Klopek and his gang of B&T half-wits rolls through the LES’s black grimy gates in their dilapidated Pontiacs. Wreaking havoc and absolutely killing the lively vibe everyone spent Sunday through Thursday busily building up.

So basically the LES influences my extremely small slice of the street art mince meat pie in that it represents a minor part of the once eclectic, yet still kicking and somewhat breathing, artistic NYC neighborhood.

Johnny: Has the Internet buzz around your works affected their production?

Hanksy: It’s 2011 and thanks to the power of the internet, a silly pun can make a big Splash. It can be taken seriously and its visual form can easily be shared from coast to coast and across the globe. So I guess I’d have to say yes.

Johnny: Is there anywhere besides the street people can see your works?  

Hanksy: The quickly approaching winter, coupled with its characteristically frigid temperatures, has mostly forced me indoors, sipping warm orange soda Tom & Jerrys and dreaming of the eruptive climate belonging to the long forgotten island of Waponi Woo. But a few pieces will most likely pop up, here and there. I’d really like to place an image referencing Apollo 13 somewhere on East Houston Street. Mainly because “Houston, we have a problem” is too easy not to use. (Non-tourist pronunciation implied of course.)

There’s also a mid-January solo art show happening at Krause Gallery in the LES. It’s pencilled-in as a one-night-only event for the gallery’s After Hours series. It’ll feature a bunch of Hanksy pieces and probably an endless loop of Alan Silvestri’s memorable theme from Forrest Gump.

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  1. Only just found this guy and really like him! Since you wrote this they’ve extended the exhibition  until 31st January! http://wp.me/p1kfCV-1c

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