Banksy Will You Marry Me?

Banksy has opened a faux pet shop in New York called The Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill. It’s his first official exhibition in NY and his first project using animatronics, moving away from his stencil and street art approach.

Here’s a quote from Banksy on the Wooster Collective website.. “New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If its art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art”

In one exhibit, a pair of chicken nuggets with legs dip themselves in sauce as a rooster looks on from a doghouse. Another shows fish sticks swimming in a fish bowl. There’s also an adorned rabbit beautifying herself with an assortment of cosmetics in front of a vanity mirror. We all know how rabbits love to be tested on for makeup. My favorite is the sleeping leopard that is actually a strategically placed fake fur coat.

It’s located at 89 7th Avenue (between West 4th and Bleeker) in Greenwich Village and is open every day from 10 am to midnight, showing until October 31st. If you can’t make it, videos of the animatronics can be seen on the show’s website. I’ve posted several of them in the post below. This story was too good for just one!

To my friends and readers in NY, if you go to the installation, can you pretty please grab me a business card from the store? xx

Thank you Lexie!

Posted by thuy