Laughing all the way to the Banksy

by Andrew Whittaker
February 11th, 2010

I came across Paris Daily Photo earlier in the week, a site that does what it says on the domain name. Snap of the day featured a work of graffiti by Miguel Donvez, aka Mimi the clown , a Parisian who stencils his way around the world’s cities, leaving his signature clown print behind. It’s like Banksy with a red nose on (and with little of the social critique). Indeed, Mimi left his mark on Banksy’s home patch not so long ago with this work:

If you’re not familiar with Banksy’s art, here’s an example.

Spot the difference eh? Banksy is a master of the visual one liner. A Bristolian street artist who has somehow preserved his anonymity for a decade, despite creating work that has become drawn into the art mainstream and now sells for big money. Today he sells framed prints – yours for a couple of thou – and recently completed his first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop.

If we’re suggesting that Mimi the Clown owes a debt to Banksy, we should also question how much Bansky himself owes to a certain Blek Le Rat , another French graffiti artist. Blek Le Rat began making stencilled street art in the early 1980s, producing the kind of satire for which Banksy has become renowned. The bloke with the TV on his head at the top of this page is by Blek Le Rat. Unlike Banksy, everyone knows who he is: Xavier Prou, aged 58. You might hope that the two had developed some deadly creative rivalry, a bitter feud over who’s done more for the cause, who sold out and who gets the best deal on spray paint. Somewhat disappointingly, their friends. They’re even talking about some kind of collaboration.

A quick trawl reveals that each country has its Banksy or Blek le Rat. An urban artist made good; some still working undercover, others basking in the spotlight’s glow – all, in common, making good money from their art. Spain’s SpY , has been staging what he describes as ‘interventions’ in Madrid since the 1980s. Like Banksy, who painted the words ‘Fat Lane’ on a Los Angeles sidewalk not so long ago, SpY makes subtle changes to the existing urban landscape, as per the pic below. He’s also anonymous, and, again like Banksy, has moved his work into the gallery.

In Berlin they’ve got Superblast . He started out as a graffiti artist in the late 1980s but now collaborates with the likes of Sony and Nokia.