Click through for two new big photos of the almost-completed Banksy rat mural at Howard and Broadway in downtown NYC. One tipster says "They have traced out letters above and below the platform that will soon say 'let them eat crack'!" Lovely.

An updated photo of Banksy's rat mural-in-progress has been added to our earlier post.

A tipster this morning sends a photo of what appears to be another mural by street art god Banksy going up in SoHo, NYC—notice that it uses the same attractive rat motif as his other NYC mural, which went up last weekend. The actual painting work has been subcontracted, obvs. We know you're in town, Banksy. We know what you look like! Seriously, email us with Banksy info, we'd like to buy him a drink. Click through for a larger pic of the rat art in action:

Semi-anonymous street art legend Banksy reportedly collaborated with a sign-painting company on this mural, which went up last weekend in Soho, NYC. He likes us—he really likes us! At least the rats among us. [via Gothamist]

Damn it, Banksy. Five works by the mysterious street artist are up for sale in London this weekend. Although he endorses a group that authenticates his works, he hates it when they're removed from their street settings and won't confirm if any such pieces are his. The sale will go ahead anyway. Bit of a gamble for those bidding! [BBC]

Anonymous guerrilla street artist Banksy's dealer (his art dealer) Steve Lazarides is opening up a pop-up gallery in New York, reports the Sun. The space is on the Bowery, of course, as part of the quest to turn it into doucheland like the rest of downtown. Banksy's work isn't to appear in the exhibit... but is it scheduled to appear in the surrounding streets?Street art resembling Banksy's has been popping up in Lower Manhattan in the last week:

This particular new Banksy piece in New Orleans that we posted earlier today is a statement on the city's aggressive art-buffing practices, so of course it has already been painted over. But in the most head-scratching way possible. Idiotic example of the power structure missing the point, or the work of a sympathetic city worker? Or just more art? Click through for before and after pics:

A tipster has sent us five photos of brand new works by semi-secret superfamous street artist Banksy. All five were just put up in New Orleans, to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29. Some of the pieces relate directly the hurricane and its disastrous aftermath; others are targeted at the legacy of Fred Radtke, an infamous N.O. anti-graffiti crusader known as the "Gray Ghost" for his practice of painting over graffiti in gray paint—regardless of the color of the underlying wall. They're all pretty great. Five [UPDATE: Now six!] pieces, after the jump:

The image on the left is a portrait by UK artist Mister Aitch (which we brought you last week along with several awesome action photos), showing semi-anonymous street artist-to-the-stars Banksy in profile, dressed as the Queen of England. The image on the right is the actual photo of Banksy from which the portrait was drawn. A tipster sent us the full photo-which, as far as we can tell, is not currently published anywhere-which is part of a set of photos taken of Banksy at work in Jamaica in 2004. The much-hyped "only known photo" of the artist is taken from this set. But after the jump, we have two more photos from that set, including one of the mystery man's face in profile:

You thought that the search for new pictures of the mysterious world-famous street artist Banksy had come to an end? It has not! Our earlier shot at digging up photos of the maybe-identified but still unseen artist turned out to (probably) not be him. But! A tipster has sent us a lovely present: three still shots of Banksy in action, taken from a UK documentary filmed in 2000, when he was less obsessive about hiding his identity. We also have two photos of Banksy that were featured in an article in the UK's Squall magazine (now defunct) back in 2000. And for the finale: two art prints that are reportedly drawings of Banksy in profile, dressed as the Queen of England. None are full-on face shots; but this is probably the first time all these rarely-seen images have been collected in one place. Click through to explore. Stills from the 2000 UK documentary Boom or Bust, by filmmaker Si Mitchell:

Well god damn. Banksy really is mysterious! A couple of weeks ago we showed you what was allegedly a 1999 photo of Banksy, the once-secret-but-now-maybe-not street artist. Before that, there had only been one known photo of the man in existence. But now...it looks like there's still only one known photo. Stupid Brits and their stupid names! Here's what happened: A tipster wrote in to point out that the new photo we found is probably not of Banksy, the artist; it's of Banxy, the break dancer. Well who the fuck can keep track, really? Banxy is a dancer and performer in the UK who once appeared in a dance TV show with Deborah Bull, the British ballet dancer who appears with "Banksy" in this photo:

GOD, we've heard so much about Banksy this week. Yes, you know he's the supersecret anonymous world-famous street artist whose identity may have been revealed at last. But some people do not understand why this is the biggest art story of our generation. At least if you love democracy, freedom, and hilarity! Come along then, as we take a brief whirl through the world of Banksy: An artist that does not suck. With two dozen pictures, yo!

For years, there has only been one known photograph of the supersecret celebrity street artist Banksy, whose identity was (probably) outed this week. That one was taken in Jamaica in 2004 by a photographer who, we hear, leaked it to the media after getting angry at the artist. That was the picture that the Daily Mail used as the key clue in its yearlong investigation of his true identity. But we've just been leaked another photo that supposedly shows Banksy in 1999.

I got some good news on the Facebook front last night: I am now friends with one Robin Gunningham of Bristol, UK-also known as Banksy, the formerly undercover world-famous street artist who was outed as Gunningham yesterday. (Or was he? No official confirmation yet, although the case is strong). Gunningham's Facebook page sports the same schoolboy picture that appeared in the Daily Mail's investigative story. And it has further evidence that he is, in fact, Banksy-unless the whole thing is part of a clever hoax, or the product of a third party with ulterior motives. Words and photos straight from the guy who might be a legend, after the jump:

As a commenter points out, Robin Gunningham, the man the Daily Mail says is in fact supersecret street artist Banksy, has a Facebook page! And among his friends: Peter Dean Rickards-the photographer who took the only known picture of Banksy, in Jamaica. Well that's not how you leave no clues about your identity, dude. [More about Rickards and the famous photo at Animal NY]

Could this be the end of the anonymous life of Banksy-British street artist -to-the-stars, darling of the underground and Angelina Jolie, and the most famous unidentified figure since Batman? We took a shot at solving the mystery ourselves a couple of months ago; but now the Daily Mail has done their own investigation, and we must say: it looks like they have him nailed. All the evidence is below-decide for yourself:

Banksy, the "guerilla" graffiti artist whose carefully guarded anonymity and high-profile stunts have made him millions and won him slavish adoration from Brooklyn hipsters and Hollywood celebrities, has had his cover blown. The Daily Mail says that Banksy is almost certainly a 34-year-old named Robin Gunningham. [Daily Mail]

British stencil artist Nick Walker—whose name was recently floated by a leading website as a plausible answer to the question "Who is anonymous international superstar street artist Banksy, really?"—has been a busy man. Not only was he spotted painting a piece on the side of Thunder Jacksons in the West Village—which sparked all this Banksy speculation in the first place—he also did quite a nice giraffe-themed work on the side of Roebling Tea Room in Williamsburg. We're still trying to pin down the true nature of the Banksy-Walker connection, so if you happen to have spotted Walker at work, email us. After the jump, two larger pictures [via Williamsburg is Dead] of the towering ruminant.

Banksy: millionaire street artist, fierce cultural critic, celebrity darling of the art world. The man's prestige has been immeasurably enhanced by his anonymity. He insists on it, and it gives him an air of mystery that only increases his allure to the media, fans, and collectors alike. An alleged photo of him was widely circulated last year, but it certainly didn't result in his real name being printed in his omnipresent media coverage. Those in his inner circle insist on strict concealment of his identity. Theories, of course, abound. But today, Bucky Turco at Animal NY believes he's stumbled upon Banksy's true identity. Combined with some corroborating evidence we got ourselves, the case is plausible—though far from proven. Now this would be big news:

Animal NY street chronicler Bucky Turco took the bait of our sighting this morning of the elusive British stencil artist Banksy. Bucky traipsed over to Thunder Jacksons in the West Village and captured THE FIRST PICTURES of this new Banksy piece, which have just increased the value of the building 25-fold [UPDATE: Or have they? Gothamist says this work is by Nick Walker, not Banksy. We're investigating. More to come.]. Click through for some larger pics of the three-part work, and then go over to Animal NY to read some more clues that Bucky gleaned about the artist . Journalism in action: