Hasta La Ideas

Speaking of street artist punks who ruin everyone’s lives, Art Info has this great, quick story about Banksy, the king of the vandals, showing up unexpectedly in Mali. Following up on questions of authenticity visitors have had while seeing his very popular hometown exhibit over some photos that show some of his work adorning what certainly looks like some part of Africa, the site went and tracked down some commenters who were able to confirm that the paintings do, in fact, exist:

A member of the Banksy Flickr Group says no, he has seen at least one of them in person in the suburbs of Bamako. “There are a handful in Mali, stretching from Bamako to Timbuktu,” writes Flickr user Olly C, adding that they were created four or five months ago and that their locations remain unpublicized.

So Banksy has been street artisting around Mali? Maybe on trips with Damon Albarn, who can’t seem to get enough of the place? Though could this also just be an extra, double fooling and that commenter confirming Banksy’s work is one of the artist’s minions? Such mystery!