The Banksy Robbo Feud

Banksy owes much of his success to the graffiti pioneers of the 1980s. "Tags," the slang term for hastily scrawled graffiti epigrams, predate street art by decades, so very few 20th century graffiti tags still exist in London, England today. They have all been removed, but the oldest tag in London once stood on a barely accessible wall along Regent's Canal beneath Camden Street. Created by King Robbo, one of London's most legendary graffiti pioneers, the graffiti had slowly degraded into disrepair along the wall of the canal since 1985, evolving into a sacred piece among London street artists.

In late 2009, however, Robbo's last remaining testament to the old vanguard of the graffiti community in London received an unauthorized makeover. Banksy painted over the old, decrepit Robbo tag, and Robbo himself took great offense to this perceived "diss." A tit-for-tat graffiti feud began between the two artists and, perhaps, would have continued ad infinitum were it not for a tragic accident that has placed Robbo in a coma for quite some time.

The Code of the Graffiti Artist

Feuds between artists are nothing new. Picasso and Matisse feuded 100 years ago, and in the 21st century, Banksy vs. Robbo continued the tradition. Painting over another graffiti artist's work violates an unspoken rule of the street art world as you will find out at Stencil Revolution Banksy, and one has to wonder how many other unspoken rules of engagement exist in the graffiti code. Without the creator's explicit permission, an artist cannot modify another's graffiti even slightly. This rule of the streets sheds light on the disdain street artists have for city councils that remove graffiti in the name of "public interest."

Banksy clearly violated this code, and, apparently, did not care. Perhaps, Banksy assumed that Robbo would not discover his modification. Maybe Banksy thought Robbo would actually exclaim with glee over Banksy's "homage" to one of London's most infamous taggers. Robbo's reaction, however, was bitter, to say the least, bringing the freehand tagger out of retirement. In retaliation, Robbo modified Banksy's modifications, and a graffiti war ensued, with Banksy's artwork across England receiving the worst of it.

Respect is the currency of the street art world. Some graffiti artists prefer to use the term "brotherhood." Either way, the whole point of the graffiti code is "all street artists stick together." In several interviews, Robbo recounts the tale of how he first met Banksy. After Banksy disrespected Robbo's reputation by brushing him off as a nobody in the street art world, Robbo slapped Banksy, sending the millionaire artist stumbling in retreat. Banksy himself has denied this incident happened, but it would explain why Banksy so blatantly violated the code of the streets. Of Bombing and Vandalism

 Of Bombing and Vandalism

Banksy's modification of the Robbo tag seemed innocuous to the casual viewer. The modification showed a painter/workman appearing to either remove or glue the Robbo tag to the wall. The intention of the painter in Banksy's original is purposely vague, true to Banksy's clever stenciling style. Whether as an homage or a diss, Banksy committed a sin from Robbo's perspective. Any changes whatsoever without Robbo's blessing, even a respectful depiction, would have been unacceptable.

To return the favor, Robbo painted over Banksy's workman by depicting the painter touching up a fresh King Robbo tag. In a fit of hypocrisy, Banksy apparently took offense to Robbo's retaliation and bombed the new Robbo Camden tag again. This time Banksy opted for adding the simple letters "Fuc" to the word King in the tag to explicitly express his distaste for Robbo. Robbo responded by removing Banksy's "Fuc", returning the tag to Robbo's modification of Banksy's workman. Eventually, the authorities had enough of the shenanigans of both artists and simply painted over the graffiti completely.

However, the war between Banksy and Robbo had already spread to the streets of London. Banksy most likely did not count on Robbo recruiting an army of loyal graffiti taggers. "Team Robbo" took the battle directly to Banksy artwork all over the country. Banksy could do little to retaliate but repaint over the defacements where he could. Surely, Banksy had his legion of loyal followers too, but Banksy loyalists could not attack Team Robbo in the same way. Robbo's work no longer existed in London, but Banksy's most precious pieces stood unguarded in conspicuous locations around major cities across the country.

Bombings of Banksy's stencil graffiti continued until the authorities in several municipalities actually stepped in to side with Banksy. In the biggest display of public hypocrisy, authorities actually helped remove Team Robbo "vandalism" from Banksy street art. Street art was one thing, but graffiti was another. This irony should give pause to anyone analyzing the impact that street art has had on the contemporary art scene. One man's graffiti is another man's art, apparently.

Stenciling Is Cheating Anyway

Banksy vs. Robbo gives clues to another secret rift in the graffiti world: stenciling versus freehand spray painting. Robbo himself has derided Banksy art as rubbish in several interviews with the media. Unlike Banksy who refuses to appear before media cameras, Robbo gives interviews freely, opting the cover his face with a bandanna to protect his identity. In these interviews, Robbo expressed the opinion of many in the street art scene that stencil graffiti amounts to cheating. The true street artist, according to Team Robbo, spray-paints freehand style. Other purists in the street art scene agree with this ethic and deride all stenciling, especially the stenciling of the "sellout" Banksy, the worst offender of them all.

The final irony of the Banksy-Robbo feud is that the graffiti battle actually vaulted Robbo to fame. Before suffering a tragic head injury, Robbo was to unveil his first major graffiti art exhibition. After abusing Banksy for his fame, Robbo was poised to join him. Robbo's condition has yet to improve appreciably, and it is looking more and more grim for the man once known as London's graffiti pioneers.

After decades of anonymity, Robbo was in a position to finally receive the credit he deserved as a street artist. Were it not for Banksy's diss, Robbo would've remained a hero of the underground. Instead, Robbo's accident has become a rallying cry for street artists to come together and restore the brotherhood of the graffiti community.