A Mash Up of Banksy's Art and Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks = Hanksy.

above: Banksy's Flower Thrower becomes Tom Hanks chucking Wilson, the volleyball that kept him company in Castaway

Street Art and Graffiti often tends to be tongue-in cheek to begin with. Add another layer of puns and fun and you've got Hanksy's work - A mash up of the street art by Banksy and the movies of award winning actor Tom Hanks.



The street art references Hanks' roles in films such as Big, Catch Me If You Can, Forrest Gump, Castaway, A League of Their Own, Apollo 13 and The Money Pit to name a few. The familiar Bansky stencils are modified to include Hanks' head and lines relating to the movies, infused with puns and wordplays.


above: the Hansky exhibit at Krause Gallery

The images and work of Hanksy have appeared on the streets of New York and Chicago and New York's Krause Gallery featured much of his work on paper in a recent exhibit.

The following images are from that show.













And here are some shots of Hanksy's work in situ:




Tom Hanks isn't the only celebrity in the work by Hansky, check out his street art of Ted Danson, Ryan Gosling (Drive-Thru), Bill Cosby (Jello) and Erkel (Cheese):





The text below is courtesy of the Krause Gallery:
A street artist is doing some amazing new street art in and around NYC.
He goes by the name of HANKSY.
Add the overwhelming popularity of Tom Hanks to the cool factor of the most famous street artist of all time, Banksy, and you get HANKSY. HANKSY has become a social media phenomenon with his imaginative street art spoofs by taking images of Banksy’s work and adding in references from Tom Hanks’ films.

“People have speculated whether HANKSY is just a play on words or perhaps something a bit more, does he hate Banksy? Is it homage to one of the greatest street artists and actors of our time? Maybe it’s an attempt to subvert the subversive or perhaps it plays on the uniquely American pleasure the public finds in trivial imagery. Maybe in the end its much more straightforward? Add a certain ‘sometimes’ vowel at the end of a specific actor’s surname and it sounds an awful lot like the world’s most well-known street artist. (via Krause Gallery)

The Awl has an interview with Hanksy here

You can see several of the Hansky graffiti work in situ here at flickr.

Turning Discarded Graffiti Spray Cans And The Leftover Paint Inside Them Into Art.

Canlove is a collective of artists devoted to removing discarded spray paint cans from heavily concentrated graffiti zones and properly recycling them by turning them into various artworks.



Discarded empty spray cans are a natural part of the scene in areas with a lot of graffiti. Some cans lie around for years before being sent to the landfills. And these cans are not necessarily environmentally friendly either. Many times spray cans are not recycled because of their pressurized and toxic nature.



Canlove takes those cans and unlocks their potential as a medium for artwork in themselves. The results are everything from unusual floral-like bouquets which use every part of the can to abstract art made from the residual paint left in the cans.

Flowers
These beauties are pretty self explanatory, and can add a burst of color to anywhere they sit. Metal cut flowers, bouquets or plants made from the discarded cans. And the best part is you don’t need a green thumb to own one forever.

Bouquets:




Custom Bouquets are available in a range of styles and colors, please contact them with any custom requests.

Cut Metal Flowers:




Orchids:




Other Floral Plants:


Many of the above shown arrangements are currently on display at the Chalk Gallery in Venice. To inquire about pricing, contact them at getlove@canlove.org

Bleeds
All of these works were created from the residual paint left over in the spray cans. It is released in different ways to achieve the desired painting technique for the piece. Sometimes hundreds of cans make up one work since there is so little paint in each can.

Splatter and Skelecan:

Intersect:

Pulled Apart:

Galaxies:


See all the Bleeds here

Canscapes
Canscapes are mosaic types of art created from body of the can. The square of metal that it becomes is colored completely on its own, its the paint drying when its exposed to air that makes the composition of the swatch. They collect them and rivet them together into the following compositions.

The Mucho Amor series:

Furious Five:

300 Cans:

200 Cans:


Purchase Canlove artwork here

Get involved and donate your cans, time or money to this wonderful organization.


all artworks ©Canlove