Post by nolionsinengland on Dec 25, 2019 19:38:11 GMT
Christmas Day 10 years ago the notorious Robbo vs Banksy spat went to another level. Robbo, RIP, headed out very early Christmas morning, crossed the Regents Canal at Camden directly under British Transport Police HQ and painted the perfect riposte to Banksy’s Wallpaperer.
25th December 2019 KING ROBBO!
Early that Christmas morning I noticed a photograph on Flickr of Robbo’s new iteration of this piece posted by Robbo’s WRH crew mate Doze. The genius was immediately apparent from that photo. I whizzed straight down to the canal, took some photos and “Banksy vs Robbo WRH, WD – Checkmate” posted online before Christmas lunch was served. It remains to this day the most read post on Graffoto.
Before Robbo’s Christmas morning adventure, the art on the wall consisted of a workman by Banksy wallpapering over some graffiti, which was actually an ancient Robbo piece.
Banksy Wallpaperer, 19th December 2019
For context, Banksy vs Robbo was an intense feud with ancient origins but for roughly a 6 month period it raged spectacularly at several location along Regents canal in Camden as each applied a succession of insulting amendments to the other’s art.
“It’s tongue in cheek, it’s all a laugh, it’s a giggle” Robbo told Graffoto about 10 months later when we met for a beery one on one unpublished interview in his local near Kings Cross. Robbo also said in reference to the art Banksy was producing at the time "A couple of things I like, the graffiti wallpaper, that was a good piece, so was the global warming, that was a good piece. I appreciate art, I’m an artist. I’m a graffiti artist that’s my main flag but I am an artist
Robbo exhibition opening night, Pure Evil Gallery, Sep 2010
Robbo exhibition, Pure Evil Gallery, Sep 2010
Robbo mentioned how he didn’t have much to do with social media so his mate put up the photo on Flickr, then early afternoon called Robbo to tell him the piece had already been picked up by a blog. Robbo said some kind and appreciative things about the Graffoto coverage so on the 10th anniversary of that event it is a pleasure to remember that exciting piece of art.
Robbo tribute by Adnate (Aus), Shoreditch 2014
All photos: Dave Stuart
