Famous artists

    Although I personally am not attracted to his style, I was very interested in his life story, from childhood in Belarus to his young married life, (three generations of seven people living in a 2-room apartment with baby and in-laws In the 1970’s?), to his immigration to and poor treatment in Israel, to his recognition and success in the US, finally living in a resort town in Mexico. Extraordinary story of the triumph of the human spirit.

    New York Times

    12 November 2021


    With a few swipes of a paint roller, the actor Christopher Walken wiped away a real Banksy painting from the side of a building in England on an episode of BBC’s “The Outlaws” that aired Wednesday night.


    Though Banksy’s work has fetched millions of dollars at auction, Mr. Walken unceremoniously painted over the artwork on the comedy-drama series, which is set in Banksy’s hometown, Bristol.

    A spokesperson from Big Talk Productions, the show’s production company, confirmed that the artwork was “an original Banksy,” and that Mr. Walken painted over it during filming, “ultimately destroying it.”


    In the BBC show, directed by and starring the comedian Stephen Merchant, Mr. Walken’s character, Frank, is ordered to perform community service. He and several other characters don high-visibility vests as they clean up graffiti from a wall on the side of a building in Bristol.


    Mr. Walken’s character, fulfilling his duties, knocks over a board leaning against the wall, revealing a painted black-and-white rat and two canisters, recognizable in Banksy’s style even if the word “BANKSY” weren’t spray-painted on the wall in orange.


    “Look at this rat I found,” he says to his supervisor, played by Jessica Gunning, who, thoroughly uninterested, spends her supervision reading with her back turned to the wall.


    After he explains it was a graffiti rat, not a real one, she responds: “Council said paint over any graffiti, so crack on.”


    “It’s awfully good,” he protests.


    “Less debating, more painting,” she shoots back.

    Mr. Walken shrugs, and then the camera zooms tightly on the artwork as he covers it entirely with six strokes.