While Banksy Grabs All of New York’s Attention, Hanksy Quietly Blows Him Out of the Water
Image via Hanksy
Banksy’s much-hyped return to New York may have been so popular and well-publicized that the work has already been defaced, but this week also marked pun artist Hanksy’s triumphant return to the streets of New York (hat tip to Videogum for alerting us) with what may be his single greatest achievement yet: Gandalfini.
It’s listed vaguely on Hanksy’s Tumblr as located in “NYC,” (along with the caption “One bada-bing to rule them all”), though Bowery Boogie reports that this comforting specter is located on Orchard and Grand. Now granted, I’ve always been more of a Hanksy fan in general (visual puns > pictures of balloons), but even objectively “Gandalfini” feels like a fairly seminal achievement. By swapping out a single vowel from Gandolfini’s name, Hanksy has managed to create a spooky, mesmerizing amalgamation of two of the 21st century’s very favorite father figures. Also, it is a very good joke and we wish we’d thought of it. Excellent work as usual. Never change.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
