Banksy's show not coming to L.A. after all

1/19

In this downtown Los Angeles mural, a young girl swings from the word “PARK,” formerly written as “PARKING.” Just down the block from this area, a downtown resident group is looking to find a little more than $6 million to transform a parking lot into a community park with a playground. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

2/19

“Kissing Coppers,” a life-size portrait of two policemen sharing a kiss, is one of Banksy’s most famous artworks. The piece was created in 2004 on the walls of a pub in Brighton, England. It was then carved from the wall and sold to an anonymous buyer in Miami for $575,000 in 2014. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

3/19

A visitor to Paris’ Drouot auction house looks at Banksy’s “Very Little Helps” prior to an October auction. The piece sold for about $7,200. (Thiabult Camus / Associated Press)

4/19

After a daylong hiatus “due to police activity,” Banksy stenciled an image of a man leaning on a wall, holding a batch of falling flowers. The creation went up on the side of the Hustler Club in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. (John Moore / Getty Images)

5/19

This pop-up exhibition depicting the Occupy movement was a collaboration between Banksy and Brazilian twin street artists Os Gemeos. A Fox news report claimed Banksy paid $50,000 to hang his work from this property in New York, but Banksy said the space was donated by the owner. (Michael Loccisano / Getty Images)

6/19

As part of Banksy’s monthlong residency in New York, Banksy found clever use of a privately owned Brooklyn street scape. The artist drew the silhouettes of two kimono-clad women on a circular-like object, as if the pair were sitting on a bridge carrying parasols near a cherry blossom tree. (Justin Lane / EPA)

7/19

Banksy created a mini-tribute to the Twin Towers on the streets of Tribeca. The image portrays two buildings against the New York skyline, one accented with an orange chrysanthemum.
(Jason Szenes / EPA )

8/19

Trying art in motion, Banksy conceived a slaughterhouse delivery truck replete with squealing stuffed animals. The farmyard pigs and sheeps are on their way to death. (Andrew Gombert / EPA )

9/19

Seen through a fence in New York City, Banksy’s trio of stampeding horses wear night-vision goggles while a group of men kneel before them. A tape recording of a 2007 U.S. airstrike plays in the background, revealing the killing of two children and a Reuters journalist. (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

10/19

Located across the street from the First Ukrainian Assembly of God, this piece is based on a 1950s image by photographer Berni Schoenfield, depicting a Jesuit priest at a Martyr’s Shrine. A portion of the original piece has been defaced by vandals. (Jason Szenes / EPA )

11/19

In this aerosol artwork spotted in Queens, New York, a man begins to scrub away the phrase “What we do in life echoes in Eternity” -- a quote picked up from the film “Gladiator.” (Jason Szenes / EPA)

12/19

Stenciled on the streets of New York, a dog is seen urinating on a fire hydrant, with a thought bubble reading “You Complete Me...” (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

13/19

In the the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, a heart-shaped helium balloon is covered in bandages. The piece was defaced with red spray paint shortly after being completed. Banksy has painted a famous heart-shaped balloon before in his 2012 London piece “Girl With a Balloon.” (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

14/19

In this New York Lower East Side piece, Banksy added the words “The Musical” to existing graffiti that read “Playground Mob.” (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

15/19

Banksy wrote the words “This is my New York accent” beneath a highly stylized “...normally I write like this.” Like several other pieces, this one was later vandalized by graffiti. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

16/19

Banksy’s graffiti mural “Love Is in the Air” illustrates a black and white masked protester about to throw a bouquet of colorful flowers. The piece was up for auction at Bonhams in London. (Justin Tallis / AFP / Getty Images)

17/19

“Flower Girl” is a 9-by-8 foot mural on brick, originally located at an LA gas station. The owner of that gas station cut out that section of the wall and brought it to an auction. The mural depicts a girl holding a basket of flowers as a security camera blossoms on top of its stem. ( Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images )

18/19

Seen in Bristol, England, this large piece portrays three police men approaching a teddy bear with a lit cocktail in his hand. For about nine years, the piece remained untouched but was then defaced with red paint. (Matt Cardy / Getty Images)

19/19

At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Banksy premiered his film “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” about a man who desperately wanted to create a documentary on Banksy. During the fest in Park City, Utah, Banksy created an image of a filmmaker zooming in on a pink flower. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

By Deborah Vankin

Oct. 24, 2013 9:31 AM PT

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Banksy’s “Better Out Than In” is not coming to L.A. any time soon, after all.

On Wednesday, a new Banksy website went live, suggesting his monthlong “artist’s residency” in New York City would be heading west. “Better LA Than NYC,” it read.Target date: December 2013.

Culture Monster thought it might be a fake, but we confirmed it this morning with the British street artist’s publicist. (Yes, the anti-establishment artist has a professional flak.)

PHOTOS: Art by Banksy

Like the fake Banksy Twitter account, now followed by more than 36,000 people, the new website is a prank, likely a commentary on the fact that Banksy’s rolling art show was stalled on Wednesday “due to police activity,” his website reported.

On Thursday, however, the elusive artist was back in action with a new piece in Hell’s Kitchen on the side of Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club. It depicts a sad, suit-clad man holding a bouquet of wilting flowers.

Given the chilly reception Banksy received from New York’s outgoing mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and the South Bronx residents who earlier this week complained about a Banksy mural, “Ghetto 4 Life,” one can’t help but wonder: Is Banksy not feeling the love in NYC? Perhaps he should head west after all.

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Twitter.com/@debvankin