Art Critic Jerry Saltz Leads an Impromptu Banksy Talk on the Upper West Side (Video)

With special guest and ex-graffiti artist Richard Santiago.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Never a dull moment in New York City! With crowds continuing to form around Banksy's pieces in the cityNew York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz thought it would be a great time to engage the public in a dialogue about Banksy and street art in general. Saltz went to the piece referred to as "Hammer Boy" and spoke to the people there attempting to take photos of the work despite the heavily tagged plexiglass covering it. A man with a screwdriver appears and takes the plexiglass down so that people can see the work. He turns out to be a graffiti artist named APOLLO5 (Richard Santiago) who says that the work is there to be seen.

Saltz gets a few people to talk on camera about Banksy and what they think he is saying with the piece. At one point, a man asks Saltz to name an African American artist who creates works that are similar to Banksy's stencils, to which the art critic exclaims "Kara Walker!" and gives him a very awkward (and very hilarious) fist bump. See what people on the street had to say about Banksy below:

[via Vulture]

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