Dennis RomeroUpdated at the bottom: We might have been fooled. We've added a question mark to the headline.
After teasing L.A. with a possible show and then settling for that lowly place they call New York, it turns out that the British street artist is coming to town. [Added: Or maybe not].
He announced his return to the City of Angels on his website. A website teased his possible return:
It says, “Better LA Than NYC” and features a “December 2013” countdown clock.
More to come …
[Added at 3:11 p.m.]: His New York “residency,” themed “Better Out Than In,” had the artist putting up public pieces throughout town, to the delight of Big Apple trainspotters.
The artist went to Central Park and sold some of his works for $60 each, mostly, it seems, to unknowing buyers who went home with art worth much more than that.
Credit: Banksy in L.A. in 2011 via Ted Soqui for LA Weekly.
The artist's last known visit to L.A. came as his documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, was up for an Academy Award in 2011.
His art was spotted around town and created a mad buzz. We expect much of the same in December.
[Added at 3:43 p.m.]: A commenter pointed out that the site is not Banksy's main, official site, which is true. But it does mirror the one used to accurately tease and promote his New York residency, here.
[Update at 5:38 p.m.]: The purported Banksy L.A. site leads to Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, which has a rare Banksy mural going on the block Dec. 5. It's the same piece featured on the banksylax.com site.
We have a call into a principal at Julien's, but we were told he's out of town. A representative we reached was noncommittal on whether this was a hoax to drum up publicity for the auction or not.
The site is quite similar to his New York residency site, and both are hosted by Go Daddy, but that's all we have for now. We might have been punked.
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