What is this picture?

July 18, 2005 4:08 PM

What's this image? We saw it stenciled onto a wall in Athens.

My brother took the picture. He thinks it's cool and wants to make it into a t-shirt, but I figure we should find out what it represents first, just in case it's the symbol for the local skinheads or something. (that would be bad)

Or if anyone knows a good place to go to ID grafitti tags, that'd be a start.

posted by condour75 to Society & Culture (16 answers total)

Hmm.. looks like some Banksy-style stencil graffiti.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 4:12 PM on July 18, 2005

Ooooh, I like the Banksy.

The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit.
posted by mecran01 at 4:20 PM on July 18, 2005

Best answer: I think it's borf, although my first guess was banksy too.
posted by seanyboy at 4:23 PM on July 18, 2005

My guess was Michael Jackson...you know..before.
posted by duck at 4:24 PM on July 18, 2005

Umm . . . borf is northeast US & Banksy is UK, right? This pic was said to be taken in Athens (Greece.)

At first, I thought you meant Athens, GA, cause I've seen some good stencil graffiti there lately, too.
posted by ijoshua at 5:45 PM on July 18, 2005

Best answer: Must be borf. (If you google "Borf" and "Athens, Greece", you'll see references indicating a borf presence there.)

Here's a recent MeFi post on borf.
posted by taz at 5:58 PM on July 18, 2005

Best answer: There are an awful lot of stencil artists out there. I'm still looking, but so far all I've been able to find is another shot of your enigmatic fellow.
posted by frykitty at 6:10 PM on July 18, 2005

Matisyahu?



posted by trinarian at 6:23 PM on July 18, 2005

Wooster Collective is an excellent resource for street art - I don't see much listed for Borf or Athens, unfortunately.

I think it's highly unlikely there's any sinister connotation to this bit of street art.
posted by O9scar at 6:41 PM on July 18, 2005

I've been looking here and here, and am empty-handed. I agree with 09scar, it just looks like art to me.
posted by frykitty at 6:52 PM on July 18, 2005

doesn't everything, these days?
posted by andrew cooke at 7:15 PM on July 18, 2005

Response by poster: Wow! I just read that Borf post a few days ago, and never put 2 and 2 together. That sounds very plausible, although if it's not him, I suppose it's one of these other guys, or an imitator. Thanks for all your help, guys, and yeah it was Athens Greece, not Athens Georgia.
posted by condour75 at 8:08 PM on July 18, 2005

Best answer: Well this is very interesting. It's not his stencil, but if you write him, he might just know the artist. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an email address on his site.
posted by frykitty at 10:35 PM on July 18, 2005

Does not look like Borf to me, besides if Borf had hit Athens he would have boasted about it.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:08 AM on July 19, 2005

Best answer: It doesn't look like Borf to me either (and I see lots of Borf graffiti every day, living in DC). The stencil style is similar, but the faces in Borf graffiti are very distinctive, and look nothing like the face on your picture.

Also, Borf was in Europe within the last few months, but frykitty's link to an identical stencil is dated 2004 - before Borf went to Europe, according to the Post article.
posted by clarissajoy at 8:50 AM on July 19, 2005

Response by poster: Ok so we're thinking it's not borf. So just some random artist? The guy that frykitty mentions seems to have found it on the same wall in athens. I have plenty to report to my brother, and it sounds like it's not the local chapter of the Satan's Helpers. Thanks everybody!
posted by condour75 at 5:33 PM on July 19, 2005