In recent days the New York Times and other international media outlets have reported on the citing outside of London in the United Kingdom of several pieces of street art created by the mysterious artist Banksy. His true identity and age are not known, but his street art, that has been found in a variety of locales outside of the British capital, including on sidewalks and walls in New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana, and those discoveries often result in it being photographed and the resulting images being distributed on social media on a massive basis and occasionally being removed from its original location and placed in upscale art galleries for sale to wealthy patrons. He is believed to be a British citizen since much of his work has been done in the United Kingdom. And like many artists, his work often comments on political events and controversies, such as the ongoing violence in Gaza and the misdistribution of wealth in both the US and the United Kingdom. In the Oklahoma City suburb of The Village the work of a somewhat less mysterious artist, a three year old little boy who answers to the appellation of “Beau,” was recently discovered on the refrigerator door of his beloved paternal grandmother who resides in that community. Like Banksy, Beau often uses different colors in his work and occasionally creates art on public places such as sidewalks, and he keeps a supply of colored chalk and stencils at a secured location at his grandmother’ home. The work would fall into the category of abstract art, and contains bright colors of the type favored by artists who labor in that field. While no overt political has been found in his work to date, they often display an exuberance that is indicative of a friendly nature, and he has spoken of including his cousin Enzo who is several years his junior and resides in Denver, Colorado in his artistic endeavors.
The Cockneys of East London are a colorful lot, and are known for their distinctive accents and rhyming slang, and it has been said that an individual who is born within earshot of the sound of St. Mary le- Bow’s Church’s twelve bells, which was founded in 1088 and is located on Cheapside, one of the oldest thoroughfares in the British capital, is a true Cockney. And the East London Tube station that is situated in close proximity to the childhood home of the late famed movie maker Alfred Hitchcock, who was of Cockney heritage, features images from some of his most famous films, including “Vertigo, “Rear Window,” and “Psycho.” And it is possible that one of the indicators of being a resident of The Village is being coming of age within the sound of the chiming bells that are found in the St Eugene’s Catholic Church on Hefner Road there. Those somber chimes fill the air at regularly scheduled intervals, and the young artist Beau smiles broadly when he hears their sound, and in future years he may recall their reassuring sounds as part of his childhood.
Against the Grain 