Controversial British street artist known as Banksy has recently opened a hotel in Bethlehem in his latest social commentary installment.

The hotel, “The Walled Off Hotel“, has been opened facing Israel’s separation wall that cuts through the occupied West Bank. All of the windows face the wall, giving residents “the worst view of any hotel in the world”, according to the artist. The rooms are decorated with familiar and new works from Banksy as can be seen below.

While 7 of the 9 rooms were designed by Banksy, the final 2 were designed by Canadian and Palestinian artists. The artist has stated that  his hotel “offers a warm welcome to people from all sides of the conflict and across the world”. His work has historically referenced Palestinian conflict, including allegedly sneaking into the Gaza Strip and distributing his art in that area after last year’s conflict.

Tourism has been positively influenced by Banksy’s commentary art. Wisam Salsah, manager of the “Walled Off Hotel”, told Al Jazeera “Since 2008, we didn’t have many tourists coming into Bethlehem, but there were more Banksy tourists coming than any other type of tourists”.  He also said that there are more Banksy tourists than Nativity Church tourists. Regardless of which tourists are going where, Salsah hopes that the tourism trend continues.

More information can be found on the hotel’s website here.

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The legendary Banksy never fails. He is back once again with another breathtaking painting just outside of the Dockside Studios in Bristol, UK. Inspired by Johannes Vermeer’s classic painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” Banksy recreated the masterpiece, with of course, his own twist. This painting was done overnight and it is located on unit15, Albion Dockside Estate, Hanover Place, Bristol. Let us know what you think about “The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum.”

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Photo Credit: storify.com

Outlets have been wrongfully reporting that Banksy was arrested and his identity was revealed. Unfortunately for all curious fans out there, the street artist is not 35-year-old Paul Horner.

Screenshot: http://nationalreport.net/banksy-arrested-identity-revealed/

Fortunately, Banksy was not arrested and taken into custody on Monday. The hoax was initiated by National Report, an independent fake news outlet, reporting on an imagined press conference and inventing quotes from a fictional “London Police Chief Lyndon Edwards” leaving fans confused and angry. If anyne would have bothered clicking ont he website’s front page they probably would have realized that this is a satirical website (The front page reads “17 Texas Kindergarteners Contract Ebola After Exposure To Liberian Foreign Exchange Student“) Banksy quickly became a trending topic on twitter and the story was shared millions of times on Facebook.

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Banksy is back with a fresh piece found on the streets of Folkestone in the UK. His piece portrays an elderly woman listening to an audio guide while staring over a plinth supporting nothing. This serves as Banksy’s commentary on how constricted museums can be, forcing the viewer to reflect on things that do not require a great amount of reflection.

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Irish stencil street artist ADW is an activist who creates politically charged pieces. His stencil is his weapon and his art qualifies him for the title of guerrilla artist. His illegal pieces end up hidden in street corners and often covered up because what he portrays troubles the higher powers. He is to be listed alongside Shepard Fairey in the America and Banksy in the UK as one of the rising “crisis” artists, according to French Blog Rue 89. The artist found the comparison very flattering.  “I couldn’t believe that to be honest, it was a complete honnor,” he said. (Read more here)

I originally created the piece to reflect all ‘policing’ forces and the increasing militarisation of these forces employed to uphold the law. I guess the piece was born during the worldwide Occupy movements and the savage handling of the protesters. But the motivations dates back further for me and I often think about the unjust killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was mistaken by British police to be a terrorist and shot 8-times in the head at point blank range. The title ‘There is no justice, there’s just us’, was given to me by a friend fit perfectly. So, armed with a history of excessive police force, violence, cover-ups and corruption I set about creating the piece. (Read more here)

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Thierry Guetta aka Mr Brainwash has been spending time in Palm Spring working on a large mural for Coachella. The french street artist, used large scale stencils representing Hitchock with his signature message “x is beautiful.” The artist’s drive is admirable and contributes to what sets him apart from other stencil artist such as Nick Walker or Banksy.

“I want to have fun, to have an adventure. My heart is as big as this whole space. I want to give.The most important thing is to be passionate about what you do, to love what you do, to do it with your heart. If it’s not heart, it’s not good.”

Starring in “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” a documentary of questionable validity about street art in LA, propelled him and his career forward. In the movie, his hobby for filming street artists leads him to his big break as an artist himself. Mr. Brainwash works from impulse.

“I don’t think about what I do. The most important is trying to do good. It’s about letting go. Art is freedom, that’s why it’s art. Freedom…there’s no rules, it doesn’t come with a manual.”

Read more on Mr. Brainwash and his philosophies: here

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Street art lost one of its great artists earlier this week. Young P183, also known as Pacha 183, died at age 29. Light was shone on the activist’s works particularly during the 2012 Russian presidential elections. He worked with both installations and street art, viewing them both as “highly informative” mediums.  P183’s works were heavily political and notably anti-Putin.

“The Russian Banksy” often resisted the comparison, claiming to not “draw any [his] inspiration from his work.” To honor his memory, enjoy out some of his most intriguing works. Rest in peace.

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