This delicious idea is at the start of an excellent blog entry on Banksy, the graffiti artist, by Mark Oliver in the Guardian.

Banksy’s new book of photographs, Wall and Piece, contains a copy of an email where the emailer complains that in the London Borough of Hackney, house prices are being driven up as a result of the artistic efforts of the enigmatic Banksy in the area - and finishes by suggesting “Do us all a favour and go do your stuff somewhere else like Brixton”.

The 30 year old from Bristol who keeps his real identity secret, is not just a typical street artist but also works for charities and corporations and has an illuminating entry in Wikipedia that is well worth a read.

No matter what your opinion on the subject of graffiti, I urge you to have a look at Banksy’s work - the man is gifted!

Read the Guardian article here

Visit Banksy’s site here

Wikipedia entry here

More pictures here

Well known for the use of elephant dung in his pictures, Chris Ofili’s new show, the Blue Rider, features - yes you guessed it, poo again.

Centre stage at the exhibition in Berlin are two new pieces of work, his first sculptures, based on the traditional Catalan figure, the caganer. This is a small figurine of a squating peasant, doing what comes naturally, usually found in Nativity displays. Ofili created two sculptures, cast in bronze, one is a blue male, one is a silver female - both have a coil of poo beneath their squatting bottoms.

The rest of the exhibition consists of more sculpture and paintings - lots of blue paintings. Fortunately the exhibition is beautifully photographed and published on the Contemporary Fine Arts website here. Enjoy.

Until December 23 2005

Adrian Searle does an excellent review in the Guardian here.

Examples of the caganer can be found here.

Controversial Brit artist Damien Hirst has been touted as the most powerful person in art by ArtReview magazine in its annual Power 100 list.

Hirst, famous for his pickled sheep and cow exhibits, is the first artist to top the Power 100 list since its inception in 2002, usually dominated by gallery owners, collectors and museum directors. Now a multi million pound self made industry, Hirst’s works command top prices worldwide for his installations, paintings and prints and has earned more at auction this year than any other contemporary artist.

Hirst took the number one spot by beating Larry Gagosian, art dealer and gallery owner, Francois Pinault (Christies) and Nicholas Serota director of the Tate Modern.

As a jaded 50 something art fan, I love to watch artists that push the boundaries of what is considered true art and became an instant Hirst fan after visiting the Sensations exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1997.

See selected works by Damien Hirst here

Or browse a Google picture search here