BANKSY @ Vanina Holasek Gallery (502 W 27th St) – 12/02/07 – 12/29/07

Alright, so Banksy isn’t a musician or a band, but the ultra-hip street artist is just as cool as anything coming through New York in the next month. This faceless master is as infamous for his political graffiti-art tagged all across London as he is for his unmistakable gorilla (pun intended) stencil graf style. His Los Angeles exhibit last year featured an actual live elephant walking around and completely painted in the Banksy style...but possibly the funniest part of that exhibit was realizing mega-celebrities like Brad Pitt would go to an abandoned warehouse in the shittiest section of LA just to see it...but, Banksy himself was, of course, nowhere to be found. If you were one of the lucky few who bought his “revamped” (pun intended again) version of Paris Hilton’s landmark CD or saw his artwork hung by the man himself at the MoMA or Brooklyn Museum, you will know what we here at NYCUG are talking about. Love him or hate him, laugh with him or get laughed at by him, the guy stirs controversy. See some of his works all month in Chelsea this December.