Everything must come to the end and in graffiti artist Banksy’s case, the big finale came in Queens.
Since the start of October, the ghost-like and notorious British graffiti artist, only known by the name Banksy, has hit the streets to tag his way around the Big Apple. In a unique show titled “Better Out Than In,” Banksy has been going around each day of the month and leaving his pieces for people to find. Each day the official website for Banksy, www.banksyny.com, got updated with images of the new works.
On Halloween, Banksy bid farewell to New York City raising an inflatable art piece spelling out his name on a building next to the Long Island Expressway on 35th Street and Borden Avenue in Long Island City. Banksy posted the image on his website with an audio file and he wrote “And that’s it. Thanks for your patience. It’s been fun. Save 5Pointz. Bye.” Banksy also provided an image of the “official Banksy New York residency souvenir T-shirt,” but you’d have to take the image to get it done yourself.
According to reports, two men tried to take the inflatable piece and were arrested. The piece was taken down and the police took it away.
After hitting Manhattan and Brooklyn, Banksy made his first stop in Queens on October 14 and stenciled on a blank wall in Woodside at the intersection of 69th Street and 38th Avenue, where the artist had written the quote, “What we do in life echoes in Eternity” from the movie “Gladiator” and stenciled a man trying to wipe off the words. Another graffiti artist painted over the piece that same night.
Banksy’s second trip to the borough was on October 23 where he created a small replica of the great Sphinx of Giza out of smashed cinderblocks near a mechanic auto shop on 35th Avenue and 127th Street in Willets Point. The piece was later taken away in a moving truck and the driver said he helped the mechanics of the shop to a home in Ozone Park, where it was placed inside of a garage.
During his month long residency of New York, Banksy has hit every borough with pieces from a slaughterhouse delivery truck driving around with stuffed animals, a stall in Central Park selling authentic canvases signed by the artist for $60 each, and a fiberglass Ronald McDonald having his shoe shined by a real person and visiting different McDonalds during lunchtime.
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