Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times A signature image merges Banksy and Tom Hanks.
Hanksy’s start as a street artist began when he downloaded a Banksy painting of a rat holding a paint roller and added an image of the actor Tom Hanks. He mashed the two together, pasted the cutout on a wall on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, signed it Hanksy and took a photograph of it to share. The image was an overnight hit on social media, and Mr. Hanks liked it, too.
His puns are infectious online, and his unknown whereabouts only add to his appeal. Here are a few of his pieces that fans have spotted around New York City:
The “Pie Hard†piece in Bushwick, Brooklyn, appeared in an abandoned church. It was there for about six months.
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The “Catch Me If You Can†piece at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan. Hanksy said he has painted there several times.
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This image was painted on a panel for Hanksy’s first gallery show. “It’s one of my favorite images forever and ever,†he said.
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A piece by Hanksy as part of Surplus Candy, a collaboration of street artists and graffiti writers who came together to paint vacant apartments in the East Village. It eventually was defaced.
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Located on the outside of Stephen Colbert’s studio in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.
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This piece by Hanksy was in his second solo show.
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Appeared at Rivington and Chrystie Streets on the Lower East Side.
