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After a full 31 days of keeping New York City on its axis waiting for the next vandalism, Banksy has at long sorrow last, wrapped up his no walls gallery exhibition, “Better In Than Out.” The 30 day exhibit turned NYC into a wall-less gallery, before it became a game of “Will Banksy’s art be vandalized or sold first?”

It’s easy for things to get a little muddled when it comes to the “man” whose name has been not so gracefully gracing the headlines. But Banksy has taken art outside of the stuffy sterile gallery and dare I say, made it fun again. For the entire month of October, the UK-based artist took residency in NYC and sprinkled graffiti and pieces of mobile art throughout the city. It seemed to be all good, with art lovers and longtime Banksy fans searching for the work in the first few days, but like everything else in New York City, the pursuit became about a come up, as people began charging to view the art, removing the art, and even trying to steal the art.

After a whole month running NYC, Banksy has faded back into obscurity like Bruce Wayne and lives to be anonymous another day. But of course, there were some crazy things that happened while Banksy tried to pull off his plan without a hitch, this is New York City after all. Check out some of the insanity that borders on hilarity caused by “Better Out Than In” below.

No Gentrification In The Heart Of East New York:

The East New York men who made a Henny and pizza party out of charging neighborhood newbies to see Banksy’s painting were actually heroes to some, standing up to yuppie vigilantes and taking ownership of their art one toothless curse out at a time.

Fake Banksy Pieces Sell Out In An Hour, While Real Ones Don’t Move:

Remember when Banksy pulled the biggest prank in the world to prove his statement about the nature of hype and the value of art when he set up a stand selling his valuable art for $60 a pop? Of course it didn’t sell, but a group set up the same shop in the same spot, and admitted that everything they were selling was fake, yet they sold out within an hour. Interesting stuff.

The Dog Who Banksy Made A Terrorist:

A photographer was walking her dog, and decided to take a photo of her dog doing dog things like standing in front of the Twin Tower “tribute” Banksy spray painted in TriBeCa on October 17th. The dog then proceeded to pee on the graffiti. The owner of course had an interview with Gawker:

I didn’t pull him away because I thought his urine was going to ruin this wonderful piece of art—it’s not a Van Gogh, it’s street art, it’s graffiti, the whole point of it is that it’s fleeting and it’s not supposed to last. That said, I pulled him away because it’s embarrassing. He’s urinating in front of a crowd of 30 people.

Poor little Freddi. He’s been called a “terrorist” by New York Magazine. He was called the Al Qaeda Dog. But other people are like, “He’s my hero. He understands Banksy better than anyone else.” The whole thing is silly.

A little tinkle goes a long way!

The Captain Obvious Vigil And The Superhero Art Lovers Who Restrained Him:

See, this is what happens when you try to steal from Banksy, the crowd steps up. For his final installment, Banksy “threw up” an inflatable tag on the Long Island Expressway. Naturally, some asshole who felt like this was his final chance at redemption scaled the building, and tried to make a break with the art…IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. The good art-loving crowd held him off long enough to get the cops on the scene, who later hauled the piece away in the back of their police van. What an NYC sendoff.

Ah, what a fun time it was, Banksy. Now, just don’t talk smack about our Freedom Tower again.

PHOTO CREDIT: Banksy.co.uk

Banksy’s NYC “Better In Than Out” Installations (PHOTOS)
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