The elusive Banksy

Banksy is an artist I knew absolutely nothing about until I came to London and it seems that this he has created quite a reputation for himself in this country.

I had seen many pictures at markets of his graffiti work but I had yet to see any on the streets. I was very curious to view this prestigious art work in 'the flesh'.

My first trip out to try and find his work went dismally. I went to 3 different locations between the Barbican and Old Street and either I was blind or the work had been painted over. I was very disappointed. What a waste of an hour and a half on what was a semi lovely day in London (that itself is a rarity!)

My next trip I vowed I would plan better and this time around I invited a friend to come and join me. I think I may have disillusioned my friend into thinking that we were going to an actual gallery to see an exhibition so I don't know how she really felt about trekking around in the heat looking for graffiti in not the nicest part of London.

Before setting off we went to one of the coffee shops on the Time Out list- Prufrock coffee served at 'Present'. This was not a coffee shop, it was a coffee machine in a trendy men’s clothing store. However the cappuccino was damn strong and tasty. I would definitely go back again if I was in the area.

After the coffee we walked in a bit of a circle before we found Cargo bar, a venue which hosts the infamous prints of 'The policeman' and 'The dog' - see picture attached. Cargo bar is a gritty well known music venue so it seems fitting that the art is found there. There are numerous other graffiti works around the bar which match the feel of the works.

After witnessing my first Banksy my friend was very keen to see her favourite 'The girl with the balloon', so we looked up the directions on her Iphone and set off chatting. As we hadn't seen each other in a little while we did get a little distracted and lost. One unpleasant interaction with a drug addict and a toilet pit stop at a local library and we were on a main road in Hackney.

We wondered up and down this very dodgy looking alley way in between two housing estate blocks for a good 15 minutes before we stopped and asked a local resident (who was having a christening BBQ) where the art work was.

We then discovered that it had been painted over, we were gutted.

Lucky a lovely lunch in the area of Angel at a small but delightful tapas bar cheered our spirits and saved the afternoon! A big thank you to my friend who took on the mission with me and never gave up!

I would love to see more of this secretive art work as it seems that its one of those exclusive pieces of history that will only be around for a short amount of time.

If you have any Banksy snaps please share them!

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