East European Wannabe Banksy Looks Awesome

http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

In the UK and America, and in much of the western world, the name Banksy is synonymous with the most iconic of street artists in the past twenty years, but there has appeared, in Eastern Europe, a rival to this legendary graffiti artist, whose work is uncannily similar to that produced by Banksy, but different enough tobe very individual.

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http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

Though not signing his work with a European type of name, it is completely unknown who this talented graffiti artist is, but he or she is definitely making waves in the graffiti world, demonstrating a remarkable talent, and very obviously inspired by the subject of the latest Facebook ‘revolution’, the man whom so many street artists hold in hushed reverence.

http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

The republic of Ukraine , specifically the town of Simferopol, is where these fantastic images have begun appearing around the city, signed by one mysterious dude named Nick Ball, whom nobody has yet managed to pin down.

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 http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

That means he is about as Banksy-esque as he can possibly be, much to the frustration of those who love the graffiti he creates. Social networking sites like Facebook, for example, have given several new names to this mystery dauber, my favorite being Crimea Banksy, as that is where Simferonel is located.

http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

The economic, scientific and cultural heart of Crimea, population 400,000, this city lies on the banks of the river Salgir, and  was founded in 1784, though the oldest building, the Kebir-Jami Mosque,  wasbuilt in 1508, and that mosque, along with the 1827 built Vorontsov House, are the most attractive sights for tourists in Simferenol.

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http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

I believe that banksy was a visionary, refusing to accept that conformity was a given, or that radical ideas should not be freely expressed, wherever the mood to do so took him.  He managed to inspire a whole generation of young people to be free-thinking, rebellious and inventive, a really wworthwhile legacy for anyrevolutionary, I believe.

http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

Crimea Banksy is following in the footsteps of the great man, not, I think, deliberately setting outto imitate him, but to show that this type of graffiti can be highly expressive and personal, individuality stamped into every image, whoever the author might be.  The question now becomes, is Nick Ball the new Banksy, and if so, where will he be striking next? I for one can hardly wait to find out.

http://re-actor.net/illustration/1896-sharik.html

All images used with permission