BANKSY & ROBBO // Graffiti wars
This place here under a bridge by the Regents Canal in Camden is probably the most important spot for the London graffiti vs street art scene. For 25 years, this wall hosted a mural by King Robbo who climbed to fame as one of the early leaders of the graffiti movement in UK and US in the '80s. In 2009, Banksy enters the stage by painting over a worker in the act of wallpapering the original graffiti. According to the legend, years before, Banksy and Robbo had personal fallout in a pub in Old Street with rumors of even Robbo slapping Banksy (this was denied by Banksy). The battle begun between the emerging street artist and the graffiti king. Over the following 2 years, the two, helped by their crews, painted over and over, making fun of each other's works not only on the same spot, but also around in London. It was a battle of huge creativity and sense of humor, although probably it was led more by anger and sense of revenge. It gained mainstream publicity with the famous Channel 4 documentary "Graffiti Wars". The feud gave the perfect opportunity to understand and discuss the differences between street art and graffiti. It ended tragically in 2011, when Robbo suffered from a fatal incident, went in coma and died 3 years later. Today, the spot shows a graffiti piece mentioning Robbo. The other tag on the right shows what I believe is the name of one of King Robbo's crew: WRH
