I'm a bit late in putting this unofficial Banksy video on artofthestate. I've not mentioned it yet but hooked blog, arrestedmotion and slamxhype have already posted it so seeing as I made it I guess I'd better post it too! Anyway, it's a 1 min 20 second walk through of the latest Banksy pieces on the Regents Canal in Camden; 'graffiti wallpaper' incorporating a pretty trashed but legendary Robbo piece, 'I don't believe in global warming' on the waterline of a block of flats, 'fishing boy' under Oval Road and 'aristoc-rat' on the canal bank.

Banksy in Camden video

Now the piece in the picture above has stirred up a real hornets nest. For a recap of the whole story revealed so far head on over to graffoto.co.uk for details of how when Banksy incorporated a 25 year old graffiti piece by King Robbo he enraged many already pissed off hardcore London graffiti writers into open hostility. And you'll get to see the classy riposte by King Robbo which has incorporated the Banksy piece into his work. Interesting reading indeed.

Following on from December 19th's post another way to separate the two types of graffiti writers has appeared. "There are two types of writers. Those who paint Christmas Day and those who don't. For one it is a chance to eat mince pies with the family, for the other its a chance to take advantage of a tube network standing still and on skeleton staff".  

Paving slab and bow photographed near St Paul's, London (holly added courtesy of Flickr)

Banksy's had the dinghy out for his new work in Camden...more to come later. 

Fishing boy by Banksy in Camden

Banksy 'I don't believe in global warming', Camden

Roa's back in town and creating more of his giant creatures. These two are a bit special and have appeared in London in December.

First up is this lenticular effect piece in Curtain Road, Shoreditch where Dr D originally carried off the same trick earlier in the year. Its interesting to watch the reaction of passers by as they slowly twig what is going on as they go past. It puts a smile on peoples faces which isn't a bad thing to do when the temperature is sub zero at the moment.

from the left <      > from the right

Roa in Curtain Road from the front

Armed with a location from the all seeing Nolionsinengland I arrived at the second spot (there's a third to be discovered as well) to be confronted by a man marching towards me shouting "Oi, did you do that?". Turns out he likes it and was working on the housing estate site next door. "Much better than your normal "Kev shags Lynda" or "Up the Spurs" innit? I mean its not exactly a pretty wall" he comments. It's a common reaction to Roa's work. People like it and get it. They don't see it as graffiti but in many instances it quite clearly fits the legal description of it. The question 'What Is Graffiti?' has been running round forever but my favourite quote on the subject of graffiti is from the excellent 'Crack and Shine' London graffiti book:

"You see there are two types of writers, those who paint trains and those that don't. For one it is a weekend hobby performed with other Dad's, for the other it is an obsessive way of life that can sometimes feel like being in a bad marriage where all your clothes, property and freedom can be whisked away from you by a knock on your door". TPG

more from Roa:

Running every day until the 23rd December the Fiesta Resistance at the Commercial Road premises of Pictures On Walls is a fine chance to see work by Mexico's Saner and Smithe amongst others. The usual rows of hanging prints have been replaced by corrugated iron and wooden structures to recreate an admittedly very clean little bit of Mexican slum life in Aldgate. The in store Banksy 'No Ball Games' prints may have all gone but Pictures On Walls have a whole raft of excellent new prints available online and in store (check out the Dran one!) with more to come before the show finishes. There's also a wealth of original artwork on sale.    

Images from the show below.

The Fiesta Resistance at Pictures On Walls. December 4th to December 23rd 2009. 46-48 Commercial Street, London E1, nearest Tube Aldgate East

Anyone who stooped down to go through a little door and into a grade 2 listed Tramshed last year knows that Sickboy can put on a show. 'Stay Free' was blessed with its own unique style which combined the red and yellow of Sickboy's trademark temple graffiti with some altogether more fine art pieces (not forgetting the sweet factory house)! For those who missed it here's a reminder of what that show looked like:

This December 16, Sickboy is back to present ‘Logopop’, a special one-night-only solo exhibition of new limited edition work and site-specific installations in east London. It only lasts three hours so if you want to see it RSVP (and be quick about it as its less than two days away) to: rsvp@thesickboy.com

(Image by Viktor Vauthier)

‘Logopop’ by Sickboy, December 16, 2009, doors: 18:00-21:00 (invite needed - see above) Location: The Rag Factory, 16-18 Heneage Street, London, E1 5LJ. Nearest Tube: Liverpool Street.

Sickboy 'Logopop' show

I don't know what it is about my luck and the Lazarides gallery. The last three times I've been the gallery has been 1). closed (website opening times now amended), 2). first floor closed on a two floor exhibition and 3). on this, my most recent visit, the top two floors were closed on a four floor exhibition. Lesson learnt - call before I visit!

So I'd like to show you some photos of the Grifter's exhibition (especially as the street work accompanying the show has been excellent) but pretty much all I took was this one of Invader's excellent neon installation. 

Invader at the Lazarides gallery

All is not lost, however, as the ever magnificent Wallkandy has captured all the main action inside and out.

In other news Art Of The State is up from last months number 10 to number 4 in the 'Top 25 UK Arts & Culture Blogs' list compiled by Manchester's Museums consortium's creativetourist.com site. Which is nice. The calculations involved sound very scientific - using Google's InLinks and Postrank amongst other measures. The Guardian's Jonathan Jones now occupies my previous number 10 spot. Eat my dust Mr Jones.

Rest assured when I'm at number 39 next month you won't hear a thing about it! :-)

Following on from his recent curation of the 'Other Side' show at the Mile End Arts Pavilion Stik has a solo show in the same venue. Featuring multiple instances of his trademark Stik figure he takes its very basic form and uses it to create a variety of situations. In fact as the majority of the Stik figures are held along a wire that runs the length of the building the figures can be moved along to create new interractions as the exhibition progresses. Outside look out for a further figure on the top of the hill and another in the middle of the lake.

Solo show by Stik at the Mile End Art Pavilion, Clinton Road (off Grove Road), E35bh (near Mile End tube on the Central line).
Open 12-6pm December 5th to to December 20th (except Mondays) 2009

In some ways the Mutate Britain show 'One Foot In The Grove' resembles a twisted offspring of the main room of the Imperial War Museum. Recent additions since it re-opened last week include a customised full size plane to sit alongside the already installed helicopter and a mechanised triceratops courtesy of Wreckage. Mutate have added to their extensive rosta of some of the best artists out there, had some of the walls reworked and added masses of new works to create an extensive and thought provoking show. Here's some of the new pieces - just a selection mind - to whet your appetite. It's a great place to visit too if you're looking to buy some original art or a limited edition print in time for Christmas.    

Mutate Britain 'One Foot In The Grove'. Open from December 4th every Fri, Sat and Sun until December 20th. Also open every Wednesday in December from 6pm. Check here for the most up to date opening times.

Cot bed by Pete Dunne and Giles Walker

'Boys Stab Vest, Age 14, Walworth Academy'. This chilling piece is by War Boutique

'In Dog We Trust' by Jolly Good (those are real dollar bills)

Tristan Schoonraad '7'

Dotmasters go to town decorating the newly installed 'jaguar' plane by Same Heggerty

Triceratops by Wreckage

Larry by Lyle Doghead makes a reappearance in front of new work by Elate

Chopper paint job by Bleach

Sweaty Paul (Rust Inc)

Fresh new work from Shok-1 in Borough, South London (just by the Tube station). Money, Fame and Power looming ominously over the streets.

Shok-1, Borough

Shok-1, Money

Shok-1 Fame

Shok-1 Power

On a nearby wall there's further work from Shok-1 in another twist on his negative / biological style

Just when we thought street art was dead the buildings of the city are once again adorned with work worthy of getting on a tube just to go and have a look at. There's plenty of it too courtesy of artists involved in the Lazarides 'Grifters' exhibition which opens in Rathbone Place later this week. Lazinc.com and Wallkandy's Flickr stream are the places to watch to find out locations and see the best pictures of the artists in action. On Tuesday I took a copy of Laz's published locations and set off around town in the freezing weather to see what I could find. Pictures below:

Paul Insect in Southwick Mews, Paddington

Vhils in Oval Road, Camden

Invader in Charlotte Road, Shoreditch

Mode 2 in Rathbone Place, off Oxford Street

Charlie Isoe, Kean Road, Holborn