[b][size=4]Banksy rival King Robbo has the final word in street art feud[/size=4][/b]
Not since the rivalry of Picasso and Matisse, which prompted the Spanish master’s friends to throw missiles at his French counterpart’s work, has there been such a clash between artistic camps.
This time, though, the hostility has arisen over the sweep of a spray can rather than the delicate dabbing of a paintbrush.
Banksy’s painting of a mural over a rival’s work, which had been left untouched for more than 25 years, has provoked an online assault against one of the country’s most popular artists.Scathing remarks were posted on internet forums yesterday about Banksy’s image of a workman pasting over a wall of graffiti in Camden, North London. The painting covered up the work of Robbo, a renowned street artist who pioneered the capital’s graffiti tagging scene in the 1980s.
It appears that Robbo returned to the site over Christmas to paint “King Robbo” in giant letters over Banksy’s work. It appears as though Banksy’s character is painting the phrase, thus paying homage to Robbo.
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One admirer wrote on a street art internet forum: “\ your piece should of remained standing . . . more style than banksy will ever have!”
Many graffiti enthusiasts accused Banksy of being disrespectful. On slamxhype.com, a user wrote: “Complete and utter sacrilege by Banksy. Blasphemous in the extreme. How dare he paint over history? What on earth gives him the right?”
Another wrote: “Banksy should simply quit, it just gets worse and worse, since the ‘myth’ is over . . .”
Stories were sweeping the internet about the reasons for the row, with further retaliation expected.
The Graffoto website claimed that in London Handstyles, a book published this year, Robbo described a tense encounter between them. Recalling how he was introduced to Banksy, Robbo claimed: “He asked what I wrote and I told him. He cockily replied ‘never heard of you’ so I slapped him and said, ‘you may not of heard of me but you will never forget me’.”
The Graffoto website concluded:“Robbo has more than matched Banksy’s wit. Robbo’s piece deserves recognition and it’s quite unlikely that Banksy’s intended effect was to give Robbo the massive elevation, appreciation and profile that is coming from this spat.”
Others speculated that the feud was far from over. Banksy painted five new images along the Regent’s Canal over Christmas. His art is featured in a bestselling book, and he is no stranger to having his own work painted over.
In October an image painted on the outside of Ikea in Sutton, Surrey, was painted over by other graffiti artists who obscured it with their tags, or sign-offs. The previous month Hackney Council, in East London, destroyed an iconic Banksy stencil, which had been celebrated by the rock band Blur.
The clash between Banksy and Robbo is reminiscent of rivalries in traditional areas of the arts. Matisse and Picasso revelled in pointing out the weaknesses in each other’s work and Picasso’s friends joined in the antagonism.