Here’s the latest Banksy, as shared by the artist.

So much Banksy news this week…

Slamxhype gives us a real winner, “This story comes from the weird and wonderful files… An auction is currently running on ebay for the named identity of Banksy. Finding it hard to take seriously, the winner, who can pay $25,000 for the priviledge will receive the name of the famed street artist, verified (apparently) by tax records matching sales figures. I can’t imagine much progress being made on the starting bid of $3000.”

I’d simply have said, “What a crock of shit.”

If your interested, here’s the auction link.

Sabatage Times has a terrific piece detailing Robbo’s feud with Banksy.

A sample -

“For me it was escapism, I’m creative but I come from a family where you either worked or went into crime so I had no-one pushing me in that direction. They couldn’t understand why I’d work then go out and illegally paint when there’s no money in it. To me graff’s always been rock’n’roll, a way to rebel and be creative”. His prolific and relentless love-affair with graffiti, which he prefers to call “a passion rather than obsession” has earned him a coveted spot in graffiti’s hall of fame. But having settled into relative retirement it was a spat between him and street-art darling Banksy painting over one of his oldest pieces, a 25 year old Robbo legacy on the Camden stretch of Regents Canal, that was to propel him back into the spotlight.

Read it all here.

Luxist reports, “A piece of art that controversial artist Banksy created for Greenpeace will be sold at Bonhams London along with other of his work at the Urban Art auction on January 11. The piece, which was created for Greenpeace’s Save or Delete campaign to draw attention to deforestation, features characters from Disney’s The Jungle Book bound, blindfolded and facing an executioner against a backdrop of ravaged tree stumps. The piece was printed but never put into circulation because of the “protectionist policies at Disney.” The piece is estimated at £60,000 – 80,000, the unique piece (lot 67) and was given to the vendor by the artist himself. The sale also features many other Banksy works at a variety of price points. Prices for Banksy have continued to rise in recent years and the success of his now-Oscar-buzzed documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, has only contributed to his fame.”

A full preview of the sale will run on these pages tomorrow.

Yesterday, Wooster Collective introduced the look of the official US release to Banky’s Exit Through the Gift Shop film. The DVD hits on November 23, 2010 – through iTunes and movie-on-demand channels. On December 14, 2010, the DVD will officially be offered in stores.

Current heroes of street art hit the block alongside legends of contemporary art next week at Bloomsbury for their Urban Contemporary Art Auction. Lots featuring Banksy, Blek Le Rat, and Nick Walker are sure to satisfy the collecting urges of street art fans. For those with different taste, there are ample offerings from names like Hirst, Emin, Stella, and Joe Black.

The auction is set for October 21, 2010, in Mayfair. View all 198 lots at Bloomsbury.

A few that caught my eye after the leap.

Above shares a latest video and provides the key backdrop -

Last year I was traveling for 3-months around Europe and spent 2 weeks in Paris. One day when I was walking around Paris I found this spot but unfortunately I had just 1 day before my flight to Rome. After observing the large concrete frame on the wall, it gave me a lot of inspiration for several ideas on how to creatively interact with the un-used frame and location. One idea was to juxtapose an “art thief” stealing a popular painting like the Mona Lisa from the frame. I felt the idea and site-specific stencil would interact well with the un-used frame and the fact that the Mona Lisa is located just 10 minutes away inside the Louvre museum.

Time always changes things and with that new situations arise. Since last year when I was in Paris I’ve noticed a lot of new topics in street art and more importantly the thievery of art works in the street. I felt it more interesting and relative to have the art thief portrayed in the stencil stealing a piece of art that actually gets stolen quite often. The English artist Banksy is one of the most popular street artists and highly publicized victims of his street artworks being stolen. It’s not by random chance this happens to Banksy’s art as first and foremost he makes great work but also due to the fact that his indoor works have sold for several hundred thousand dollars you can imagine when he paints outside in the street his works are soon sought after by thieves.

It’s an interesting concept and somewhat of an irony as we the artists and the thieves are both working in an illegal manner. One illegal activity inspires another. The artist paints illegally with spray cans on a wall, while the thieves jack hammer and chip off illegally painted walls, illegally. It’s kind of like the pot calling the kettle black to a degree.
I took the initiative to comment and create a situation in this piece that could mimic both illegal acts simultaneously executed here in the painting and in the process.

Many years ago before Banksy’s mass appeal he painted his popular rat image that read, “Because I’m worthless.” Times have changed Banksy is a common household name as well as the increased value of his artworks. I felt like it would be applicable to the current state of affairs to appropriate his previous statement to “Because now I’m worth it” to reflect the past and current thievery of his street artworks.

“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to”
Banksy

Recently launched, the dedicated youtube site for Exit Through the Gift Shop gives some more insight into the themes and narrative behind the documentary. More videos will be uploaded as the official release date nears.

Banksy has arrived at all types of new press in the last week. First, he collaborated on the cover of TimeOut London and then the cover of The Sunday Times. The above video details how he created the art for the Times, which included a six-page interview with the artist.

Full cover after the jump.

In recent years the allure of street artists and their increasing fame has generated heavy prices on the auction block. There’s an inherent difficulty here because 1) the pieces are site specific and 2) taking and selling property is stealing. British artist Banksy has taken steps to solve this problem. Establishing Pest Control as an authenticating agency, Banksy hopes to both dissuade people from destroying property for profit and make sure that his own works are not sold. This authentication system works to keep the intent of street art as honest as possible. (via GQ).