Looks like the daily mail is running out of stories at the moment… Yesterday, they published a story, trying to repeat their previous accusation last year that he was “Robin Gunningham”. However, the reason because of this was a stencil, photographed by unusualimage, of a rat holding up a sign with a picture of him, which the Daily Mail is saying is a self portrait. However, this is unlikely for several reasons, particularly that Banksy has recently stopped using the rat image in his stencils, and the rat holding up a sign has been used several times by the Not Banksy group. Also, I find it a tad unlikely that Banksy would give up the majority of his income stream, by taking away his own anonymity, especially without mention on his website, unless he’s just trying to stir things up?

Anyways, here’s the stencil, you can decide for yourself.

##Via Vandalog. Vandalog

The hustle and bustle of London is a perfect way for new previously unseen artists to make a name for themselves. The street art scene in London is probably the biggest of all the cities in the UK. London attracts artists from around the world to get up on the walls of this concrete playground and, as a result, attracts a lot of different styles which makes London an ideal place to go search for inspiration.

London’s East End has to be the most condensed area of street art. Shoreditch and Bricklane are a haven for both new and experienced artists: this is where the big names come to play. Regulars to the East End include ATG Crew, Eine, Banksy, Eelus. Snub23 and Fark FK. It really is a fantastic place to come graffiti spotting.

One of the most famous London events this year has to be Cans Festival. The tunnel in Leake Street, right beside Waterloo in the centre of London, has involved hundreds of artists that have come from right around the world. Cans Festival, set up by Banksy, has gathered huge media attention and allowed many previously unknown artists to achieve mainstream following. If you have any form of interest in graffiti and street art (I guess you do, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this) The Tunnel in Leake Street is a location you must visit the next time you are close to London. It’s a really inspiring location for artists and fans a like.

Thanks to HowAboutNo! for the London images.

Banksy hasn’t finished his tour of America just yet. He’s hit New York hard with this brilliant new piece shown on his website.

I’m guessing these telephone boxes were already knocked down before Banksy got his hands on them but this is a brilliant example of using the environment effectively to create awesome street art. I love the face on the telephone being crushed.

Banksy is arguably the most famous street artist and has launched street art from a tainted hobby to glitz and glamour. Banksy has recently been strolling around the US doing his thing and has produced some beautiful work, and as usual, his new work features the silent social protests of its surroundings. The work below is all from New Orleans and you can see how Banksy has taken the trouble of Hurricane Katrina and reworked it into his masterpieces. Below are some of my favourites:

Apparently this is an old Banksy paste up from back in the day, can’t really confirm but looks pretty genuine.. not really many of these about…