A Banksy street work has been daubed by council workers in Melbourne, the ‘street art capital of Australia’.

The parachuting rat, located behind the Forum Theatre in Hosier Lane – where there are currently five approved street art sites – was outside of the preservation areas. It is thought to be the city’s last remaining Banksy work.

Speaking in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, the CEO of Melbourne City Council, Kathy Alexander, said the council should have acted to preserve all known Banksy works.

A couple of the reader comments on the Sydney Morning Herald article offer suggestions how such a kerfuffle could be avoided in future. These include a freephone number to call if you see a Banksy, Haring, Twist or Doyle being buffed, and the council sticking to cleaning up McDonald’s wrappers and letting national heritage organisations decide what should be preserved.

Another reader comment offers an alternative point of view:

Graffiti isn’t art, it’s vandalism. Big deal, he uses stencils. Oh wow, how artistic. Sandblast the crap off the walls and send the bill to him. What? Can’t find him? Funny about that. He knows what people do to vandals.

Photo by Dark Orange

A rock band known as Exit Through the Gift Shop have been persuaded to change their name in exchange for a “double-bed” size backdrop painted for them by Banksy worth a six figure sum.

The band now goes by the name of Brace Yourself, which is seen in the work written on the front of a dodgem driven by the grim reaper, possibly a reference to the band’s roots, formed as drummer, Simon Duncan, was approaching 40, in what he calls a kind of “midlife crisis”.

The painting which Sotheby’s have estimated to be worth £200,000 is now in storage and the band plan on using a full-size copy at their gigs.

Mr Duncan told the Bristol Evening Post he would like to take it out of storage at Christie’s as it is costing them a lot and have it displayed somewhere.

Seven internationally recognised Israeli street artists are showing at the Inoperable gallery in Vienna.

The show features work by Know Hope, Zero Cents, Ame 72, Klone, Broken Fingaz, DoverD, Foma <3.

Most of the artists are from, Tel Aviv (‘the bubble’). Know Hope calls the city the “most secular, dynamic and fast-paced city in Israel”. Broken Fingaz are from Haifa, in the north, which also has a surfing community for what it’s worth.

Tel Aviv is a great graffiti destination. Not without police, but just far more laid back than most other big cities. You can read more about the Tel Aviv street art scene in an article I wrote for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz last year.

Take a look at Zero Cents blog (maybe NSFW)- I was moved by the post, ‘R.I.P. Whoresy’.

Broken Fingaz

Broken Fingaz

Photos courtesy of Inoperable Gallery and Broken Fingaz

A crew of Christian (CORRECTION: not all artists involved are Christian. The event is a nondenominational exploration of spirituality and faith, but it happens to be sponsored in part by a church) graffiti artists are set to start work on a 130-foot long mural in Vancouver.

Paint Your Faith is a collaboration wall between Faith47 (South Africa), Peeta (Italy), Titifreak (Brazil) and Indigo (Canada).

“For seven days, these artists will take a blank wall and turn it into their own personal canvas, creating a piece of art that will change the Vancouver landscape and open discourse for what faith, spirituality and art is really about.”

While, for a lot of readers, organised religion combined with street art surely brings forth apparitions of ‘happy clappy’ crappy aerosol art and hymns blasting out on the boombox, the artists involved with this project – planned over six months (albeit by the Wondercafe.ca and the First United Church of Vancouver) – are all highly experienced.

Open your minds to the religious propaganda just a little  and quit cringing at statements such as the crew wanting to, “express their unique and unified interpretation of faith”  and you might be led to think this project quite special.

I would recommend watching the interviews with the artists about their interpretations of faith on the PYF website.

The Paint Your Faith project will also include a group show at Ayden Gallery (opening April 24), featuring Chor Boogie, Mediah, Elicser and Siloette as well as Dedos, Kaput, Misk, Scott Sueme and Phresha.

The mural project starts April 21 and takes place at:

55-57 W. Hastings Street (across from the Woodwards Building)

Sten calls them “bilingual atypical stencils” – where the stencil is used just once and  incorporated into the work itself. They claim it’s a new concept which “completely challenges the repeatable nature of stencil art”. Whether or not this is actually the case, the show at Galerie Itinerrance, Paris, looks impressive. It runs until May 23rd.

Sten & Lex "Poster Stencil"

The video shows Sten (tediously) producing one of the stencil posters.

STEN LEX stencil poster from STEN on Vimeo.

A charity street art auction at the Factory Fresh gallery will see the largest array of street artists together anywhere so far this year in tandem with the book launch for Street Art New York.

The book by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo (brooklynstreetart.com), with a foreword by Carolina A. Miranda (c-monster.net), is published by Prestel – who have upped the ante with regards the front cover design. Instead of using a free download, ‘graffiti’ font, they have chosen one that doesn’t scream urban cool, tastefully adjacent to an image by Judith Supine. I’ve read that Harrington is a book designer by trade, so it makes sense. I guess the less said about the cover for the pair’s 2008 release, Brooklyn Street Art the better.

The art auction will raise money for the kids charity, Free Arts NYC, who aid children and families with educational art and mentoring programmes.

The list of participating artists thus far includes: Bishop 203, Billi Kid, Bortusk Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK , Chris Stain, Creepy, DAIN, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Elbow Toe, Gaia, FKDL, General Howe, GoreB, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Jim Avignon, Jef Aerosol, JMR, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP, Poster Boy, Rene Gagnon, ROA, Pufferella, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, Veng RWK.

The auction and launch will take place at the Factory Fresh gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, April 24, from 7-11pm.