Banksy Alabama Piece Removed

by L.A. Ruano, September 3, 2008

banksy alabama piece removed 1 Banksy Alabama Piece Removed

On an unofficial tour of the US, stencil artist Banksy has been on the run slapping the government in the face with his artistic take on various problems plaguing the country. We got a view of his latest piece in Birmingham, Alabama a few days ago, here. Today it was reported that the artwork has been removed. There is no official word as to what exactly happened, but according to a clerk across the street at a convenience store, local taggers covered the image up. Stay tuned for further news regarding the incident.

Source: Spring Creek

banksy alabama piece removed 2 Banksy Alabama Piece Removed

banksy alabama piece removed 3 Banksy Alabama Piece Removed

banksy alabama piece removed 4 Banksy Alabama Piece Removed

Trackbacks

  1. Posted by: Bansky Reaparece (”Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill”) « LapicesMordidO_os on October 11, 2008 at 7:25 pm

    [...] bansky, posiblemente uno de los graffiteros/intervencionistas urbanos, más famoso en la actualidad de a dejado caer en nueva york. aunque desde hace algun tiempo que le deja ver en diferentes ciudades de estados unidos, como new orleans y alabama (este ultimo ya fue removido) [...]

  2. Posted by: Banksy Does Alabama « Upset The Setup on September 4, 2008 at 10:22 am

    [...] looks like they couldnt handle the truth Filed under: Upset The Setup   |   Tags: Alabama, [...]

  3. Posted by: MZEE.com Blog » Blog Archive » Banksy Alabama Bild entfernt on September 4, 2008 at 2:53 am

    [...] Banksy ist gerade in den USA unterwegs und versucht mit seinen Bildern auch politisch etwas zu bewegen. Jetzt ist sein Bild in Alabama entfernt worden. Genaue Informationen gibt es noch nicht; in der lokalen Szene munkelt man aber eine Crew aus Alabama selbst h

  4. Posted by: SubRejime.com » MORE FROM BANKSY on September 4, 2008 at 12:18 am

    [...] (HYPEBEAST, SPRING [...]

45 Responses

  1. Posted by: jay-o on September 8, 2008 at 9:26 am

    what’s wrong with this picture?

  2. Posted by: 93tilInfinity on September 6, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    It was a powerful piece. Regardless of who took it down it still speaks volumes. Anyone who thinks that you can put the past behind you in regards to race relations in this country is idiot. Across the nation, from small towns to huge cities, the ghosts of racism and hatred are alive and well. This country was founded on these principles. In the hearts and minds of many individuals this will never change.

  3. Posted by: The Barbarian on September 5, 2008 at 1:16 pm

    i take back what i said about the removal. Digging deeper i found out it was a couple of kids from Nashville and the “owner” of the property the gas station is on.

  4. Posted by: The Barbarian on September 5, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    Jmonet and John nailed this. All of you pinning this to rednecks and ignorance need to check your selves you’re just making your self seem like the ignorant one. Its awesome to know Banksy stopped in my home town, but the placement was all wrong. He offended the people he wasnt trying to offend. I believe its a good chance that it may have been banksy himself that stuck around and had something to do with the removal. I may be way off but from what i hear a a couple of people had been hanging out ever since the image was first seen. And one just happened to have a pretty thick accent. But thats just my thoughts.

  5. Posted by: Steele on September 5, 2008 at 12:07 pm

    It was Jim Thiebaud reclaiming his original idea from 1990.

  6. Posted by: jasonfours on September 5, 2008 at 6:07 am

    great piece but not places properly. should have been on the state building.

  7. Posted by: SJ on September 4, 2008 at 6:32 pm

    jmonet, since when has an idea being “too easy” stopped Banksy? His whole career is based around mediocre execution of mind-numbingly obvious ideas.

  8. Posted by: JUGGIE305 on September 4, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    y so serious

  9. Posted by: John on September 4, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    jmonet’s on the money here. While I was viewing the piece a black man came up to me to ask who had done it. I told him it was attributed to a famous British graffiti artist. He said that the people who’d been talking about it at the store across the street really didn’t appreciate it. They would rather put violence and hatred behind them and deal with reality (which, in my opinion, is quite visibly evil enough without putting a cartoon stenciled face on it).

    There’s little doubt that it was covered up by members of the African American community because they found the image in their neighborhood offensive. I think their spray-painted statement, coming as it does from within the community, might be more relevant than Banksy’s, which seems to have been aimed most directly at practices that fell away from currency decades ago.

  10. Posted by: jmonet on September 4, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    banksy didn’t research the neighborhood, unfortunately. he hit a low income black neighborhood that didn’t respond well to his imagery. regardless of meaning, you really can’t just put up the image of a noose or kkk member in a black neighborhood in alabama. the only message percieved by the neighborhood was a threat. not only that, but it brought white hipsters from the city out to a black suburb to stare at what the neighborhood viewed as a kkk graffitti. people at the quick stop across the street kept asking why he would “put up a message of hate.” someone in the neighborhood defaced it, and then two guys i met that were there to see it explained what the piece was to the owner of the building and then helped him remove it to preserve it. alabama may be a backwards ass place, but banksy offended the exact people who would benefit from his message. it was a pretty blatant, lazy piece too. the NOLA stuff is fantastic, but hanging a kkk member by a noose in alabama? come on, that’s too easy.

  11. Posted by: xMokaOnlyx on September 4, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    NO yall dont understand, if that were to stay up then some southern whites would have blamed black people there for doing in which they didnt but its not like any of them know who the fuck Banksy is, so in order not to stir anything up it was removed for the best

  12. Posted by: The Dude on September 4, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Apparently paying attention to detail isn’t anyone’s strong suit. How does a concrete wall turn into a exposed brick wall overnight? = Stencil! Bansky went back & did it himself! Geez..you all must have got “U”’s in grade school…

  13. Posted by: dadad on September 4, 2008 at 9:37 am

    Personally i think the whole state of Alabama should be remove instead, bunch of retards.

  14. Posted by: 3737373 on September 4, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Banksy went back and buffed it. It’s a metaphor.

  15. Posted by: Jacob The Producer on September 4, 2008 at 8:30 am

    It’s funny that Birmingham has to attempt to erase images of their past. You made the mess, now if someone comments on it you can’t just erase it. The ignorance and lack of responsibility in this country is shocking. Go back to Bama’ Bansky and hit them again! http://www.myspace.com/jacobtheproducer

  16. Posted by: one3 on September 4, 2008 at 4:40 am

    damn yo, they coulda sold that piece for like 10gs on eBay.

  17. Posted by: truth on September 4, 2008 at 3:37 am

    whether you think this is art or not, by looking at the comments on this page, i think Banksy did his job

  18. Posted by: qwerty on September 4, 2008 at 1:27 am

    all city & jjg live together in the same house in alabama. stupid fucks.

    if you live in america & don’t think at least this piece is powerful then you’re the kind of person that america doesn’t need.

  19. Posted by: ... on September 4, 2008 at 1:09 am

    Let me say this… fuck alabama. :)

  20. Posted by: YomomsB on September 4, 2008 at 12:38 am

    were the taggers wearing white hoods? because I doubt a tagger would do that.. An artist will never do that to another’s artwork.. it was some Hicktown USA idiot that did that.. Blaaah.. I love everybody..

  21. Posted by: HotSizzle on September 4, 2008 at 12:11 am

    haha i did that

  22. Posted by: ricky winterborn on September 3, 2008 at 11:47 pm

    hahahahhahahahahhahahhaha jjg you think your such hot shit ricky winterborn is from an old n64 game called 1080 and no it isnt my fucking tag. and why do you have such a stick shoved up your ass for me i didnt say shit about alabama people being racist. use it before you lose it you fucking twat…..i am dope…and atleast british people got teef! unlike you people down south…damn dude why am i so funny…banksy is art and thats the bottom line so stop hating unless your bout to do something better then him.

  23. Posted by: jjg on September 3, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    i think all of you dumb bastards that think everyone in alabama is a racist redneck; should be hanged. especially you ricky. and that high school educated kid Dekal… is that your tag? what a cliche-ass name… i bet you are dope…

    british people got crooked teef!

  24. Posted by: nanah on September 3, 2008 at 11:13 pm

    I’m sure the local taggers were McCain supporters.

  25. Posted by: DEA on September 3, 2008 at 11:09 pm

    so much hate from some of these ppl….do u even have any background on bansky and what he stand for?

  26. Posted by: a*siq on September 3, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    geez “huh”, since when does the art connected to the homo?Wow..being ignorant is a sin itself,added with some hater power, that just make you a fool.I’m no MO but that comment is like someone from a trailer park just learned to use the internet kinda comment.You bring us from the states down.damn..
    I agree, that was not a trained hand that covered up banksy’s piece. It meant to be political but not against black people.The only person that might got offended, is the one that at night time put some white hood and pretend he’s a purist even though he’s just another donkey following another donkey ass.
    Put away your hater juice son!

  27. Posted by: jjg on September 3, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    “Yeh city shitty don’t know shit. Local taggers probably didn’t even know what they were buffing.”

    you dumb fuck….

  28. Posted by: nanah on September 3, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    I guest the stupid rednecks found this offensive. Racist cunts.

  29. Posted by: ricky winterborn on September 3, 2008 at 11:06 pm

    ha lets see yours huh…post something id be interested to see what you call art

  30. Posted by: huh on September 3, 2008 at 10:37 pm

    whatever, maybe they just didnt want that homo trying to get attention from real plight

    fuck banksy and his fan$, horrible ass taste in general, and a wack approach to life and art

  31. Posted by: NO37 on September 3, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    good idea tjholmes26… I’d buy one if there was a piece of design like that.

  32. Posted by: tjholmes26 on September 3, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    Hey shitty city maybe u shuld go hide back under ur klan mask. This is a brilliant piece and speaks very loudly to me. I’d love to have this on a shirt .

  33. Posted by: Dekal on September 3, 2008 at 9:35 pm

    wow….i guess they didn’t know that could have bout there moms a new double wide..

    dip shits.

  34. Posted by: biscostew on September 3, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    stupid rednecks

  35. Posted by: hb.groupthink on September 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    All because Banksy makes his stencils “edgy” (where its just screaming for attention now) doesn’t make him a writer.

  36. Posted by: KingForceOne on September 3, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    I really doubt it was a “Tagger” who covered that up. C’mon look at the can control. Sh*ts all over the place. A real tagger would of rolled it or covered it with a fat cap. It had to be wack ass cat that felt disrespected. Keep doin your thang Banksy!

  37. Posted by: isa on September 3, 2008 at 7:40 pm

    depressing. that was a good piece. i hope his shit in Nola stays up long enough for me to go see it.

  38. Posted by: decypher on September 3, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    Yeh city shitty don’t know shit. Local taggers probably didn’t even know what they were buffing.

  39. Posted by: ricky winterborn on September 3, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    all city shitty your such a dick muncher

  40. Posted by: All_City_Shitty on September 3, 2008 at 7:14 pm

    Banksy should stick with issues in his own country. Stensiling KKK members hanging or not isn’t cool and won’t last on any wall in the South. If some brothas saw Banksy white ass painting a KKK member he would have caught an ass whooping before any jail time. Like anyone in Alabama give a shit about Banksy. I don’t.

  41. Posted by: Goldi on September 3, 2008 at 7:04 pm

    We shouldn’t stay tuned for further news because this wasn’t news to begin with.

  42. Posted by: ererewqr on September 3, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    relax shit like this happens everday to everyone

  43. Posted by: SEAN! on September 3, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    I guess someone found hanging a KKK memember in Alabama was offensive

  44. Posted by: sethsethsethseth on September 3, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    Absolutely, kinda shit that they didn’t keep it. Looked good.

  45. Posted by: Guerilla Monkey on September 3, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    Wow.. No respect