![Post image for Banksy Loses Documentary Oscar to Inside Job [UPDATE]](http://hyperallergic.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/banksyoscar_HOME.jpg)
As soon as the announcement came that Banksy’s documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar, a churning online rumor mill debated if he would accept the award in person or remain anonymous. No one had a chance to find out what Banksy would do, though, because last night the artist’s film lost to a documentary about banking and the financial crisis.
![Post image for Banksy/Oscar Drama [UPDATE 3] New Banksy in LA? Yup, 3 So Far…Make that 4](http://hyperallergic.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/BanksyOscar-HOME.jpg)
As soon as those of us at Hyperallergic heard that Banksy was nominated for an Academy Award, we knew that drama had to follow. Here’s the latest. The Academy had to grapple with what to do with an anonymous winner.
In response to Jeff Koons’s zany copyright lawsuit, I thought it would be fun to collect some awesome balloon dog-related merchandise and images from across the web.
The LA Times reports that chances look good for Banksy’s film Exit Through the Gift Shop to receive a nomination for an Oscar, completely destroying any ideas that Banksy is some kind of anti-establishment bandit. I’m just surprised that Banksy could pull off going even more mainstream than he already had.
Establishment iconoclast Banksy just took his next step into the mainstream. The street artist, known for his pranks that stretch from painted urban walls to film, has directed the opening sequence for The Simpsons television show.
The animation is an interesting vehicle for Banksy given its massive reach, the TV equivalent of a well-placed wall tag; it’ll reach millions of viewers for sure. The question is, what can viewers take away from Banksy’s latest work?
2010 has begun with some fascinating street art, including works by Bansky, Shepard Fairey, Kid Acne, Ema, El Sol 25, TrustCorp …
Writing for Slate, critic Ben David investigates the possibility that Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop may have been a “poisoned valentine” to the global movement known as Street Art.
Lotus Johnson left this illuminating comment on Alison Young’s post “Art, Value & Banksy’s Rats in Melbourne,” which included an illustration of a stencil depicting a native Australian flower stabbing a Banksy signature animal, the rat. Turns out there’s more than meets the eye.
It seems that Melbourne City Council just can’t get it right when it comes to street art, and especially when it comes to the work of Banksy: two weeks ago, they “accidentally” ordered a cleaning crew to remove one of Banksy’s iconic rats from a wall in Hosier Lane, in the centre of the city. The news of this rodent’s demise was greeted by a storm of media criticism.
Street art enthusiasts seem to have a thing for destructive fanaticism, but I’m not sure they realize how destructive it can be. They exuberantly consume the latest street artworks like hungry piranhas, hyping the artist and his products until there’s nothing left but an embarrassing skeleton. They get inexplicably ramped up about artists who have produced one provocative wheatpaste or had a single clever idea.
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