8 global cities where Banksy left his mark

GlobalPost

You won't see him, but you know a Banksy when you see it.

Known as much for keeping his identity a secret as he is for making street art around the globe, the British graffiti artist has most recently descended upon New York City, where he is creating a series called "Better Out Than In," as part of a month-long residency.

Like much of his work and street art in general, the pieces that have sprouted up in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx have a flourish of whimsy with a solid anti-establishment message. 

Banksy has been all over the world. Below is a sampling of eight cities where he's made his mark.

1. New York


Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images.


Andrew Burton/AFP/Getty Images.


2. Los Angeles

Around the time his documentary, "Exit Through the Giftshop" (2010), was up for an award at the Oscars, Banksy told Los Angeles what he thought about the film industry.


Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.


Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.


3. Bristol, England

The picture below is from a surprise exhibit at the Bristol Museum in 2009. The exhibit in what's rumored to be Banksy's hometown took just 36 hours to set up; very few of the museum workers knew about it beforehand. 


Matt Cardy/AFP/Getty Images.


4. London

London is probably your best bet if you want to make sure to see an original Banksy. Online maps tell you where you can find his latest work.


Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images.


Neil Mockford/AFP/Getty Images.


Peter Macdiarmid/AFP/Getty Images.


5. New Orleans

In New Orleans Banksy commemorated the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in 2008.

At the time, he wrote on his website: "I looked out the window of the taxi on the drive into New Orleans and remarked, 'There's still so much devastation, I can't believe they haven't cleaned this mess up,' to which the driver stared at me and said, 'This part of the city wasn't affected by the hurricane, it's always looked like this.'" 


Chris Graythen/AFP/Getty Images.


Chris Graythen/AFP/Getty Images.


6. Glastonbury, England

Banksy visited the Glastonbury Music Festival in 2007, where he also made a replica of Stonehenge out of portable toilets.


Matt Cardy/AFP/Getty Images.


7. Ramallah, West Bank

Banksy made nine paintings on Israel's controversial barrier wall in the West Bank in 2005.


Marco Di Lauro/AFP/Getty Images.


David Silverman/AFP/Getty Images.


8. Bethlehem, West Bank

When he was working on one of the pieces in the West Bank, according to the online magazine weburbanist.com, an old man approached Banksy and said that his paintings had made the wall look beautiful. Banksy thanked the man, but he responded: “We don’t want it to be beautiful, we hate this wall. Go home.”


Ian Walton/AFP/Getty Images.


David Silverman/AFP/Getty Images.


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