Street Art in Chinatown

Last week I learned that nestled on the outskirts of Chinatown there’s a piece of graffiti by the famed British street artist Banksy. I recently saw his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, so my interest was piqued. Armed with my camera phone, I went out Essex Street to go find it.

The quality isn’t too good because my phone sucks and it was dark. I went out a few days later though with a real camera and here’s what I shot:

The angle’s a bit odd because there was a car in the way, but as you can see, it’s definitely a real Banksy piece. It’s been here for a while now, as you can tell from the other taggers piggybacking off of this piece and spraying their own stuff. According to an article from the Boston Globe, it’s been here since last May, probably done to help promote his documentary that was showing in Kendall Square, released around the same time.

Whether it was Banksy himself who tagged this or one of his assistants is up for debate. People who know Banksy reportedly confirmed the artist really did come to Boston to create it.

After I found this gem, I was inspired to find more street art in the Chinatown neighborhood. Check out my findings:

I found this one near the on-ramp for I-93. Its from the OBEY campaign by Shepard Fairey, another famous street artist, also known for the Obama Hope poster.

This one's a mural near the Chinatown gate (technically not grafitti, but still cool.)

The last two are on Essex Street, near the Banksy piece.