On the London walls, a graffiti war rages

photo:wikipedia.org - Ajuk

London - Graffiti and street art are a part of many major cities around the world, but a rarity in London is the war between two big names in the genre - Banksy, who has achieved global fame in recent years, and Robbo, who became known as the king of London graffiti in the 80s.
Graffiti can be found in central London as well as its outskirts, but the largest concentration is in North London, particularly in Camden and Islington, and especially in the East in neighborhoods such as Shoreditch, Hackney, Bethnal Green, and around Brick Lane. Corners, nooks, alleys, and walls under viaducts are covered with various types of the genre - traditional, directly sprayed brutal graffiti, as well as images made using stencils or pasted onto walls. Their creators are anonymous or people hiding behind more or less provocative nicknames like Tox, Ben Eine, Pure Evil, Asbo, Phlegm, or Sickboy.
The walls continuously change as owners or municipalities remove or repaint graffiti, and new ones appear in their place. One of the few places where graffiti is tolerated and created in broad daylight is an unused tunnel beneath Waterloo station.
In 2008, Banksy transformed the uninviting tunnel into a graffiti gallery for three days. Although not much remains of the original "exhibition", the walls of the tunnel are still covered from sidewalk to arch with constantly changing images, which are a popular destination for photographing tourists.
However, graffiti has started to be accepted by the public and authorities elsewhere in London too. The key criterion seems to be their location and, above all, creativity. While common colorful graffiti and tags are still mostly considered vandalism or visual smog, artistically interesting and inventive images have gained popularity. Simply in the style of Banksy, who brought street art into galleries and auction houses. His stencil works have had a tremendous influence on street art, which has ceased to be perceived merely as vandalism, claims artist King Adz.
Paradoxically, it is possible to see cleaning crews removing painted walls in London, while a bit further away, other graffiti is protected under plexiglass. Most often, it is the works of Banksy that are thus protected, which sell for tens of thousands of dollars at auction houses.
"We decide what to preserve. Some works are very attractive. We keep Banksy; those are very artistic pieces," states Islington councilor Kenny Wilks. Similarly, Conservative councilor in Camden, Chris Knight, complained that vandals had painted over "a Banksy-style piece that refreshed a dull part of the wall".
When Banksy discovered a new work in Camden in June, the homeowner installed a security camera above it and covered it with plexiglass. The image of a boy blowing a bubble with the word Tox (nickname of another, now indicted street artist) is offered for £4,000 (113,000 crowns).
Most laypeople do not know if there is a difference between graffiti and street art, but there is a certain rivalry between the two trends, which is personified by the dispute between Banksy and the sprayer known as King Robbo. The only thing they may have in common is that they care about anonymity even more than other street artists. If they appear in public, it is only with a mask; Banksy even alters his voice. While this is a certain artistic, or possibly commercial principle, both also admit they could be prosecuted for graffiti.
King Robbo was the king of London graffiti in the 80s, when his signature appeared on various buildings and subway trains. His traditional graffiti, according to The Independent, "in the style of abstract bubbles", was created at significant risk with spray cans. Banksy creates his street art in relatively uncontroversial places using stencils, which true Robbo followers consider a fraud. Banksy comes from Bristol, while Robbo hails from a rough suburb in South London.
Robbo retired in the 90s, but the dispute with Banksy prompted him to return. It reportedly started when they met in the Dragon pub in the East End. When Banksy told his older colleague that he did not know him at all, the burly Robbo slapped him - according to his own account.
In 2009, the dispute transferred to the walls of London, specifically under the bridge above Regents Canal in Camden, where Robbo's significantly faded graffiti from the 80s survived - allegedly his last trace in the capital. Banksy painted around it a craftsman covering Robbo's work with wallpaper. He supposedly should not have done that, as internal conventions of this parallel world dictate that one creator's work cannot be used without their consent.
Robbo, in any case, got angry, left his "artistic retirement", and spray-painted his King Robbo on the hard-to-access wall by the canal. Banksy countered shortly after by spraying the letters FUC in front of the inscription. A war ignited between the two sprayers, taking place along Regents Canal, where Robbo covered or mischievously added to a number of Banksy's artworks. His supporters, who operate under the name Team Robbo, are destroying Banksy's work elsewhere in the city.
The dispute with the famous Banksy helped Robbo, who until recently was known only in a small circle of admirers. In London’s East End, he had a commercially successful exhibition, and his works began to be in demand abroad. He was at a film festival in Berlin this year. There, he sprayed a portrait of actress Zoe Kravitz on a wall to mark the premiere of the film Yelling to the Sky, which he attended, of course, in a mask. British television Channel 4 filmed a documentary about the dispute Graffiti Wars from Robbo’s perspective, in which he appears again masked.
Banksy ultimately completely painted over the graffiti that both were fighting over at Regents Canal and sprayed a new image there, a room with an aquarium. Robbo wanted to respond to this - at least according to his words in the television documentary. However, the entire dispute was interrupted by his injury. In April, he was found on the street with severe head injuries and has not yet regained consciousness from the coma. According to British media, the police had no reason to investigate the accident.
However, Banksy spoke out at the beginning of September with a protest against the Channel 4 documentary, which he claims, due to its dramatic tone, made it seem like he had something to do with Robbo’s injury.