Existential graffiti
In 2008, Hurricane Gustav swept through New Orleans as residents and tourists swept out, and one particular visitor swept in: famed British street artist Banksy. The elusive artist alighted in the city, creating over a dozen stenciled paintings on and around the cityscape: a child flying a refrigerator-shaped kite; a young boy swinging on a tire swing (life preserver); a homeless Abraham Lincoln pushing a shopping cart. Some of the images were quickly painted over or literally torn or cut from the exteriors of dilapidated houses.
To date, only three of Banksy’s pieces remain in the city. The most popular, which residents call the “Umbrella Girl,” is located on the exterior of the old Drop-In Center, an organization that provided medical and social services for runaway and homeless youths. The stencil features a mournful-looking young girl trying to shelter herself from the rain by holding a giant umbrella. The joke is on her, however, because the umbrella is the source of the rain. Many residents see Umbrella Girl’s existential situation as a poignant representation of New Orleanians’ views on levee protection.
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Address 8131 Hampson Street, New Orleans, LA 70118 | Tip Banksy’s other two surviving paintings in New Orleans can be found on the corner of Clio and Carondelet Sts and on Jackson Ave between St. Thomas and Rousseau Sts.
In 2014, thieves posing as art handlers from Los Angeles tried to remove the painting from the cinder-block building with jackhammers and drills in broad daylight. They put up a wooden wall to shield their activity, but curious passersby peeked behind and started asking questions. The men claimed it was going to the Tate Modern Museum in London. Residents posted photos of the theft on social media, the building owners were contacted, and the men fled. A guard was stationed to watch over the painting, and it was plastered back into the wall.
This was not the first incident the resilient Umbrella Girl survived, as she had already suffered other attempts to deface her. Today she still stands, waiting in vain for the rain to stop, on display for anyone who wishes to see her … at least for now.
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