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New Banksy Painting Appears In London's Canary Wharf

Banksy Sorry

First Posted: 21/12/11 09:23 Updated: 21/12/11 14:07

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A new Banksy artwork has been discovered on the side of an empty building in London.

It appeared in the financial district of Canary Wharf in the shadow of the cities major banks, bearing the simple message: "Sorry! The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock".

The new piece appears to accompany an earlier Banksy effort discovered in Chelsea last month - a trademark stencil and spray-paint picture depicting a girl and a shopping trolley tumbling from the sky with what looks like a bottle of wine and a necklace.

The new piece appears in a month when Banksy has already shown his softer side with a biplane trailing a love heart made of smoke in Liverpool and given the world a 'Christmas present' in the form of a sculpture criticising the Christian church over sex abuse cover ups.

This time round he seems to be directing a comment about the financial crisis at London's elite - but what point is he making?

The wealthy workers and residents in Canary Wharf and Mayfair are the least likely to be affected by the recession. Perhaps he's hoping to remind them of less fortunate Londoners located elsewhere?

What do you think?

From the West Bank to New Orleans, here's a gallery of our favourite Banksy street art.

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A graffiti attributed to secretive British artist Banksy depicting a child wielding a machine gun, in black and white surrounded by colored flowers, is spotted in Westwood, California on February 17, 2011. Another graffiti was ripped down Wednesday, February 16th in Hollywood, amid sightings of other pieces in a reported pre-Oscars publicity stunt. Banksy is nominated for best documentary for 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' at the Oscars, due to be announced on February 27th at the climax of Tinseltown's annual awards season. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

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A new Banksy artwork has been discovered on the side of an empty building in London. It appeared in the financial district of Canary Wharf in the shadow of the cities major banks, bearing the simpl...
A new Banksy artwork has been discovered on the side of an empty building in London. It appeared in the financial district of Canary Wharf in the shadow of the cities major banks, bearing the simpl...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jennifer Kley
Sloppy Cubicle Rebel in search of Freedom
16 Fans
13:26 on 22/01/2012
Art, one of the best ways to make statements.

http://thecubiclerebel.wordpress.com/
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geoff ward
20 Fans
22:01 on 18/01/2012
Love his art. He says everything that many people think.
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BanksytheMovie
24 Fans
 
15:33 on 06/01/2012
The new Banksy movie is out now watch it here at http://www.howtosellabanksy.com
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Arkleson
14 Fans
16:59 on 27/12/2011
The man's a millionaire, but I guess he still has the right to daub the streets with graffiti....even at his age. It's like watching blokes in their 30s still skateboarding.
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horseguards
173 Fans
03:47 on 27/12/2011
Brilliant.
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j4 james
0 Fans
00:49 on 27/12/2011
This new Banksy painting (if that's what it is), doesn't actually appear in the Canary Wharf financial district. Canary Wharf is where those skyscrapers are in the distant background. The painting itself is in Poplar, probably one of the poorest areas of London. The only time you'd find one of the wealthy elite there is if their limo driver took a wrong turn.
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Catherine Hester
15 Fans
23:30 on 23/12/2011
Perhaps he's reminding them that the buck stops here, or what goes around comes around and their privileged niche is about to become obsolete. After all, he does state that the lifestyle they ordered is out of stock, but no mention of when it will RETURN??????
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justee
0 Fans
20:47 on 22/12/2011
British graffiti artist Banksy has acknowledged Blek's influence stating "every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier"....enough said!!!
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spikejonze
1 Fans
19:47 on 22/12/2011
Emperors new clothes,

Yawn!
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Jarrett Davis
17 Fans
09:21 on 22/12/2011
How this guy continually gets credit for ripping off Blek Le Rat is beyond me.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
socialtheory
Mr. Positive
113 Fans
04:50 on 07/01/2012
Banksy has used a lot of Le Rat's ideas, but I think the world is a more beautiful place with Banksy's art in it, no matter how derivative it may be.
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oobuc5
8 Fans
08:20 on 22/12/2011
Just a thought ,how can you get up there and do a piece like that ,it must take time ,with all of those security cameras,and yet no one see,s anything ?
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shineonbluemoonk
175 Fans
 
17:43 on 21/12/2011
This is the Grammar Police: Not "illusive". The word you want is "elusive".

Illusive is negative and derogatory in nature, and I don't think you meant to imply Banksy's work is deceptive or misleading.
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Aidan Taylor
0 Fans
00:24 on 24/12/2011
illusive - based on or having the nature of an illusion. Isn't the idea of an easily obtainable lifestyle an illusion shared by many, and aren't most of these 'artworks' feeble attempts at illusions capable of deceiving the eye? I am no fan of pretentious vandalism masquerading as art but perhaps you should go back to the Grammar Police Academy.
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Wookiee1972
105 Fans
05:06 on 08/01/2012
Nonetheless, words matter, and this site is notorious for having really bad copy-editing.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MasterfullyInept
US Army veteran, progressive and opinionated
239 Fans
16:31 on 21/12/2011
That the hope of a better life has been appropriated for the enrichment of the !% and the rest of us can go to the dollar store.Banksy is probably the most relevant and thought provoking artist at work today.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Cynth
[Your ad here.]
738 Fans
15:47 on 21/12/2011
From the article:

"This time round he seems to be directing a comment about the financial crisis at London's elite - but what point is he making?

The wealthy workers and residents in Canary Wharf and Mayfair are the least likely to be affected by the recession. Perhaps he's hoping to remind them of less fortunate Londoners located elsewhere?"

--------------------------

This is the kind of insight we can expect from the HP Culture section?

How about: this is a commentary on the unimaginative, unoriginal, inauthentic material conformity or competition that many (most) of us subscribe to. We expect that we can order our lifestyles "off the shelf," from a catalog, or online, except they are only goods that many others covet and they are fleeting.

This idea predates the financial crisis and applies to a wider group than London's elite. It is not a reminder of the less fortunate, but a mockery of aspirational living.
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