The "Banksy" show opened Saturday night at the Vanina Holasek Gallery to a suckfest of wanking Brits. The show consists of basically everything Banksy has released through Pictures on Walls in the past 3 years with a few originals of suspect origin thrown in for good (or bad) measure. Hosted by an aging kilt-clad English gentleman doing his best impersonation of Johnny Rotten, the prices were as ridiculous as the accents. A signed “Girl with Balloon” print was listed at 55k. Not to miss any angle to exploit profit from Banksy’s image, there were even t-shirts for sale at a “reasonable” $50; because, in the words of our snaggle-toothed host, “Nothing’s free." Nothing.... except for the 18 beers my roommate and I drank of yours. The evening wasn’t all money hungry Brits selling out their countrymen for a quick buck. The nether depths of the British ex-pat celebrity scene were also in attendance; and we drank in their glamour as voraciously as we imbibed our aluminum-bottled Budweiser’s. While rubbing shoulders (literally, the place was a friggin closet) with Soap Opera ingénue and star of the hit movie Aspen Extreme Finola Hughes, photographer Mick Rock uttered the line of the night to me, “It’s brass monkey outside tonight!”. I inquired, “What’s that mean Mick?” “It means it’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!” Until next time, Gene P out.
