www.thetimes.co.uk/article/elusive-banksy-rat-artwork-from-west-bank-reappears-in-tel-aviv-gallery-0ww5cjt33



Elusive Banksy rat artwork from West Bank reappears in Tel Aviv gallery

When the graffiti artist Banksy toured the West Bank and Gaza 15 years ago, the works he left behind on security walls and checkpoints satirised the Israeli occupation.

Satire has had its revenge. One of his pieces, a much-celebrated mural of a rat with a slingshot that disappeared from view some years ago, has turned up in a fashionable Tel Aviv art gallery.

To add insult to injury, the gallery and Israeli media have reclaimed the image of the rat as their own — saying that, rather than being an apparent tribute to teenage Palestinian stone-throwers, it symbolises the biblical fight between the Israelite David and Goliath, the giant warrior of the Philistines, the ancient term that is now the Arabic for Palestinians.

“As far as we know, we’re the only ones in Israel who have a Banksy creation,” an employee of the upmarket Urban Gallery, in the middle of Tel Aviv’s financial district, told Ynet, an Israeli news website.

Banksy first went to Israel and the West Bank in 2005, leaving behind sardonic images of idyllic family life and children on a beach on the grey concrete security barrier that divides the two entities and, many Palestinians say, keeps them locked in a prison in their own country.

The rat picture was spray-painted on the side of a bullet-scarred and abandoned checkpoint of the Israeli Defence Forces on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Some time later, it was painted over by an unknown graffiti artist, who scrawled “RIP Banksy rat” on it. It then disappeared altogether, along with the section of the checkpoint wall that held it.

There are competing accounts of how it reached the Urban Gallery. According to Ynet, the work was taken away and stored in a nearby building for its own protection, after it became involved in a dispute between local Palestinian Christians and Muslims.

When that building was due to be demolished, the artwork was cleaned and restored and then moved to the art gallery by mutual agreement with the local Bethlehem authorities, Ynet added.

However, Koby Abergel, an Israeli art dealer who works with Urban Gallery, told the Associated Press he bought the piece for an undisclosed sum from an “associate” in Bethlehem he refused to name.

The cracked slab of wall containing the mural was lifted out by crane, driven through the security barrier and then taken the 50 miles to Tel Aviv on a flatbed lorry.

The Israeli government unit that administers civilian affairs in parts of the West Bank under its control says it had no knowledge of the operation. The Palestinian authorities have condemned the removal as a breach of international law, which forbids the removal of cultural objects from occupied territories.

“This is theft of the property of the Palestinian people,” a spokesman for the Palestinian tourism ministry said. “These were paintings by an international artist for Bethlehem, for Palestine, and for visitors to Bethlehem and Palestine. So transferring them, manipulating them and stealing them is definitely an illegal act.”

Banksy has created numerous artworks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent years, including one depicting a girl conducting a body search on an Israeli soldier, another showing a dove wearing a flak jacket, and a masked protester hurling a bouquet of flowers. He also designed the Walled Off Hotel guesthouse in Bethlehem, which is filled with his artwork.

The artist did not respond to requests for comment.

This is not the first time his work has been lifted from the West Bank. In 2008, two paintings — Wet Dog and Stop and Search — were removed from the walls of a bus shelter and butcher shop in Bethlehem. They were eventually bought by galleries in the United States and Britain, and exhibited in 2011.

Abergel says it is up to viewers to draw their own conclusions about the artwork and its implications. “We brought it to the main street of Tel Aviv to be shown to the audience and to show his messages,” the art dealer added. “He should be happy with it.”

EBay Stencil kit job done a bit too shabby, not the best shaped balloon to be fair. Nice tribute but as the Swindon paper said, a Banksy style tribute. If that truly was the first Banksy art since December last year the future ain’t looking promising. System comes up with internal server error so can’t load a picture of it. GWB with ER in the heart balloon.

Could this be the long waited return of Banksy ? Personally it’s a no for me but it does resemble the same kids from “Jack and Jill”

It's also from Maidan Square, the independence square in the middle of Kiev. Not every stencil artist dares that.

goo.gl/maps/6jF4bsbyrvRcAmhd7

 

Robins wife is pro-russia, supports Putin and doesn't hide it - 
So I doubt he would paint in the Ukraine. 

As with Palestine he's more on the children's side than anyone else. And as with that conflict it's obvious which side is suffering most. But that doesn't mean he's promoting Hamas, or is taking sides in this war. 

If this is Banksy!

It ticks a lot of boxes that one. It would be great if it was a Banksy. He's been quiet... almost too quiet.

Apologies if it's common knowledge on here but I had no idea that Mrs B had pro-Russia views.

Did Mr B marry a Russian...? PM if it's not something for a public forum.

Angel wings on a bin? Could this be linked to the above with a possible video coming our way ? Found this through the same links as the above.

I feel this is by him - I like the composition too

Glad he seems to be emerging from his break

The iron cross thing is an anti-tank obstacle. It a so-called Czech hedgehog. It consists of three metal beams. Each metal beam is approx. 1,5 meter/5 ft long.

The fingers on the boy's left hand are right out of the GWRB stencil book.

Very good point on the metal barrier with the undercoat, you can see how that would instantly finish the piece off.

Another one here

... more words words words words words words words words words words words