Banksy Gets Festive Underground
by Zoe Strimpel
Mon, 5 May 2008
Banksy has just sent an even greater-than-usual shock of electricity through London. This time he's taken over a portion of unloved railway tunnel near Waterloo Station in a grim area of south-central London. Leake Street, a dank shortcut for taxis, has been filled with an awesome parade of images either by Banksy or orchestrated by him. The show, called "The Cans Festival," includes typically clever and current images of subjects such as Boris Johnson, the new mayor of London; the queen, and the pope rendered as a kind of Marilyn Monroe. In a new twist, Banksy handpicked artists from around the world, and gave them little warning about the project. The Argentinean artist Frederico explained to the Times of London: "It happened really fast. They just told us our flights. It's great to meet people from all over the world to paint. This isn't some branded event, it isn't in a gallery, it's unique."
Banksy left images of a self-harming youth in a hooded sweatshirt, a tree sprouting CCTV cameras, and the Buddha in a neck brace. Bizarrely, it was a Dutch artist (Hugo Kaagman), who took on Mr. Johnson. A Norwegian (the single-monikered artist Dolk) did the pope.
Leake Street will never have known such popularity. On Saturday the line to get into the tunnel was at least two hours long. The show was meant to close to the public today, but popular demand may well prolong it — as it has in the past with Banksy's work. The space was rented from Eurostar (trains used to pass through, in and out of the Waterloo terminal), which says it will happily keep the art in place for a further six months. What it thinks can replace it for the better at the end of that term is a mystery.
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