Hanksy

Hanksy is an anonymous street artist and parodist based in New York City. As the moniker implies, he is best recognized for making humorous, pun-themed work related to popular culture icons and putting those images on the street; for instance, in the work that inspired his artist name, Hanksy combined the body of fellow underground artist Banksy's classic rat with a cartoon face of actor Tom Hanks. Hanksy's work has been discussed in numerous publications including: The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Magazine and The Washington Post and in 2016, a documentary series related to his installation Surplus Candy aired on Ovation TV.

Hanksy started making art in this street format in 2011 in Manhattan when he created a combination image of the body of Banksy's rat holding a paint roller with the cartoon head of actor Tom Hanks. Rather than paint the work on a traditional canvas, he pasted it on the side of a building in Little Italy hoping to amuse his friends. The image soon went viral on social media, encouraging Hanksy to develop his street moniker and expand his portfolio of popular culture mashup puns. Since 2011, Hanksy has created hundreds of images that he continues to paste on the streets but also paint on canvases that are exhibited across the country. Banksy has yet to comment on the parody; however, Tom Hanks is supportive of the work and shared a photograph posing next to Hanksy on his twitter account.

Donald Trump

2015 mural in Manhattan's Lower East Side

Although the majority of his work illustrates lighthearted images that poke fun at celebrities, Hanksy branched out in 2015 to include themes of political commentary when Donald Trump announced his intention to run for President of the United States. The image he created in protest, dubbed Tronald Dump by the Huffington Post, depicted the then candidate as a cartoonish pile of feces with flies encircling his head.

In addition to his street and canvas art, Hanksy has created several interactive installations meant to engage his audience in innovative and participatory ways.

Surplus Candy (2014-ongoing)

Sparked by the success of the Best of the Worst installation, Hanksy began his Surplus Candy initiative—highly interactive events that he has hosted in multiple cities including New York City and Los Angeles. In each installment, Hanksy secures an abandoned space, transforming it with art and activity, then opens that space up to the public for only a couple of hours before taking it down. In 2014, when he first hosted Surplus Candy in Manhattan, Hanksy included twenty other artists.[6] In 2015, when he installed the show in a dilapidated mansion in the historic West Adams district in Los Angeles, over 90 artists were involved.

Best of the Worst (2015)

In 2015, Hanksy mounted an interactive exhibition entitled Best of the Worst that featured some of his signature pun pieces, including portraits of Bill Murrito, Hamuel L. Jackson, Kanye Brest, Traylor Swift, Pikajew, Drak-o Malfoy and Mile E. Coyote. In addition to exhibiting his own work, Hanksy showcased pieces by fellow street artists, built a functional skateboarding ramp, included a photo booth, arcade games, balloon artist and a live-DJ.

To generate awareness of the exhibition and active interest in attending, Hanksy created Golden Tickets that he hid throughout Manhattan, teasing their location on social media. An homage to the 1971 fantasy film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, these tickets introduced the interactive nature of the event but also could be traded in for a limited edition work by the artist. The exhibition itself took place at a former Chase Bank on the Lower East Side that Hanksy transformed to look like a street in Chinatown.

Ovation TV, "Hanksy Presents: Surplus Candy."

To preserve a record of Hanksy's otherwise temporary installations, Ovation TV launched a six-episode series called "Hanksy Presents: Surplus Candy."