Banksy's "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill"

This week, to no fanfare and red carpets, Banksy secretly opened The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, on 7th Ave between Bleecker and West 4th Street, open everyday from 10am-Midnight. This is Banksy’s first New York show and it not only artistically brilliant in the oh so tongue in cheek Bansky style, but it’s really really fun. The pet store features a lounging Leopard in the front window, laying on a branch with tail moving. Upon entering the store you see that the cat is actually a fur coat. There’s fishsticks swimming in a fishbowl, chicken nuggets pecking at food, a monkey in a cage watching other primates ‘get busy’ on the Discovery channel. There’s so much more as well, but I don’t want to give it all away, because experiencing it first hand is too much fun. The best part of the store, IT’S FREE and you don’t have to be part of the art elite to go. All are welcome and being among kids and adults who aren’t in on “the secret” behind this place adds to the experience and makes it that much better. This is Banksy’s first jump into animatronics and there’s no paintings hanging or graffiti murals on walls. Just pure artistic fun. Damn, we need more of that. Here is a statement from the artist about the Pet Store:

“New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If its art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art.”


Original article here