King Robbo
Encyclopedia
King Robbo is an English
underground graffiti
artist
who became more widely known following a graffiti war with Banksy
. There had been a previous meeting between Robbo and Banksy in the nineties during where Robbo claimed he slapped Banksy, a claim Banksy denied. A Channel 4
documentary "Graffiti Wars" about the feud was first shown in August 2011.
The feud with Banksy led to a rise in Robbo's profile and he began entering the commercial art world with a number of gallery shows and commissions in 2010/11. In February 2011 he painted a giant portrait for the opening of the film Yelling to the Sky
on a wall on the Kunsthaus Tacheles
, Berlin
.
in Camden
, London
which was only accessible by water. Over the years it became degraded with a few small pieces of graffiti over the top. In 2009 a stencil artist, allegedly Banksy, covered most of it with a stencil of a workman pasting wallpaper. On Christmas Day 2009 Robbo responded by covering the work so the workman appeared to be painting King Robbo in silver letters. Three days later the letters Fuc appeared before the King. Tit-for-tat overpainting continued at the site with artwork and insults including a picture of Top Cat
leaning on a gravestone with the words "R.I.P. Banksy's career".
This incident led online outrage against Banksy and a graffiti war with many of Banksy's other works being altered by "Team Robbo". Notable including the piece Hitchhiker to Anywhere where the "anywhere" was changed to "going nowhere".
: 'Team Robbo - The Sell Out Tour'. It is believed the injury happened as a result of an accidental fall. His recovery has been slow and as of October 2011 he remained in an induced coma
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
underground graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who became more widely known following a graffiti war with Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
. There had been a previous meeting between Robbo and Banksy in the nineties during where Robbo claimed he slapped Banksy, a claim Banksy denied. A Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary "Graffiti Wars" about the feud was first shown in August 2011.
Works
Robbo painted his first train in 1985 and the ‘Merry Christmas’ train of 1988, a joint piece created with "Drax WD", received coverage on ITV news and in the Independent.The feud with Banksy led to a rise in Robbo's profile and he began entering the commercial art world with a number of gallery shows and commissions in 2010/11. In February 2011 he painted a giant portrait for the opening of the film Yelling to the Sky
Yelling to the Sky
Yelling to the Sky is a 2011 American drama film directed by Victoria Mahoney. The film premiered In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear.-Cast:* Zoë Kravitz as Sweetness O'Hara...
on a wall on the Kunsthaus Tacheles
Kunsthaus Tacheles
The Kunsthaus Tacheles , is an art center in Berlin, a large building on Oranienburger Straße in the district known as Mitte. Huge, colorful graffiti-style murals are painted on the exterior walls, and modern art sculptures are featured inside...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Feud with Banksy
In 1985 King Robbo painted a large full colour graffiti piece called Robbo Incorporated on a wall beside Regent's CanalRegent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
which was only accessible by water. Over the years it became degraded with a few small pieces of graffiti over the top. In 2009 a stencil artist, allegedly Banksy, covered most of it with a stencil of a workman pasting wallpaper. On Christmas Day 2009 Robbo responded by covering the work so the workman appeared to be painting King Robbo in silver letters. Three days later the letters Fuc appeared before the King. Tit-for-tat overpainting continued at the site with artwork and insults including a picture of Top Cat
Top Cat
Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera prime time animated television series which ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network. Reruns are played on Cartoon Network's classic animation network Boomerang.-History:...
leaning on a gravestone with the words "R.I.P. Banksy's career".
This incident led online outrage against Banksy and a graffiti war with many of Banksy's other works being altered by "Team Robbo". Notable including the piece Hitchhiker to Anywhere where the "anywhere" was changed to "going nowhere".
Injury and coma
On April 2, 2011 King Robbo sustained a life threatening head injury 5 days prior to his exhibition at the Signal Gallery, ShoreditchShoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
: 'Team Robbo - The Sell Out Tour'. It is believed the injury happened as a result of an accidental fall. His recovery has been slow and as of October 2011 he remained in an induced coma
Induced coma
A barbiturate-induced coma, or barb coma, is a temporary coma brought on by a controlled dose of a barbiturate drug, usually pentobarbital or thiopental...
.