Juxtapoz Magazine - Banksy's Barely Legal Preview

Banksy's Barely Legal Preview
Friday September 15, 2006

Good ol' Banksy. He's mounted a show in a big warehouse a little ways south of downtown LA. Times and location info are on his website: www.banksy.co.uk.

If you're not in LA this weekend, you should be! Banksy's show runs Friday, September 15th through Sunday the 17th. Shepard Fairey is showing at Merry Karnowsky, Neck Face is having a show at New Image Art, Mike Brodie is showing his awesome polaroids at M + B, and Juxtapoz founder Robert Williams is showing with Jean-Jacques Tachdjian and Jonathon Rosen at Overtones Gallery.

Anyway, last night we found our way over to the preview of Banksy's exhibit, Barely Legal, and brought back a few photos. Enjoy.

Photos by ert o'hara

Punks Not Dead.

When you enter the warehouse, you get a little piece of paper that reads, "There's an elephant in the room. There's a problem we never talk about." And then you walk upstairs, and there is actually an elephant... in the room. Pink and gold and munching on carrots.

Famous stencil

Doctored Paris Hilton cd's from his recent record store stunt in England... in a plexiglass case with giant cockroaches, and their shit.

David, modified.

Big back room with Banksy sculptures and stencil paintings

The corner of the room

Wrinkly and wrinkly-er

Here is my one celebrity photo - and it sucks, I know. Brad and Angie were there (they bought several pieces), also Shepard Fairey, Keanu Reeves, Zach de la Rocha, one of the guys from The Bachelor, Perry Farrell, Kevin Smith, Meg from the White Stripes, and lots of LA art folk. There was a lot of people watching. A lot of "Ohhh hiii" and looking over the shoulder of the person you're talking with to see who else was around. At least there was brilliant art in every direction.

These fellows are making a movie - Life Remote Control - about Banksy and Shepard Fairey and lots of other artists. Here's the trailer on You Tube: Life Remote Control.