The hammer boy was one step away from extinction. And yet, it’s still there, a decade later.
It has passed the test of what was born as ephemeral art.
That autumn morning in 2013 was one of those glorious days in New York. On Sunday, October 20, he woke up clear, with that light that makes this city forgive its storms and torments.
Strolling down Broadway on the Upper West Side, a large group of people suddenly emerged on 79th Street. They were all looking at and taking pictures of a facade that lacked apparent interest.
There was surprise. Banksy completed his month-long artistic residency in the Big Apple, an experience he titled Better out than in. His commitment was to engipon a piece every day of that October. He was disseminating them throughout the five districts, without prior announcement and without informing the exact location.
People were excited in front of the Hammer boy, the boy with the hammer who was getting ready to hit the fire hydrant. The game consisted of photographing yourself in many ways, although the most successful position was to put your head on the hydrant, as if to receive the blow, a kind of guillotine with blows.
Good humor prevailed until, suddenly, two individuals approached the drawing, took out some sprays and prepared to end the boy’s existence. The crowd reacted quickly to his rescue and prevented the momentary disappearance. There was even a fight. The two aggressors had to flee because of the collective anger.
The building chosen by the sneaky and anonymous English creator from Bristol – property then occupied by a shoe outlet – is owned by brothers Saul and Stanley Zabar.
The Zabars own and give their name to the gourmet supermarket (located at 80th Street and Broadway) with the most history in New York, one of the great commercial temples and a reference point for citizens.
Lori Zabar, Stanley’s daughter, recounts in her 2022 book about her family and establishment that her mother received a call from a reporter that Sunday. He informed her that they had a Banksy on one of their properties. The reporter wanted to know what they were planning to do. She asked him what he thought they should do.
“You have to protect it because other graffiti artists will try to destroy it,” he replied. So she informed her husband, who contacted her brother. Saul admitted that he had no idea who that Banksy was, but given the joy in the neighborhood, they decided to preserve it.
Two Zabar’s employees stood guard, waiting for another to take the methacrylate board and protect it from the tags of other graffiti artists in search of fame, which in slang is called spot jocking, or simply its destruction by jealousy or because they felt invaded. There were local authors who despised Banksy. They said it was a pose. The next day, the plexiglass woke up with one painted in red letters: “Let the street decide”. The Zabar brothers sent another employee to clean the plate.
Despite the deterioration from the weather, the hammer boy is still there. Although the neighbors have already integrated it into their routine, groups of tourists or New Yorkers from other areas often appear and pose for the photo. And the preference for going out with your head over the hydrant remains.
“They have preserved it as if it were a fresco”, points out Elena Frigenti in reference to the initiative of the Zabars.
Frigenti is the manager of the MetaMorfosi NY gallery in Tribeca, where an exhibition commemorates the tenth anniversary of Banksy’s residency in the city. The exhibition includes other iconic works, more than a hundred pieces including reproductions and four originals lent by private individuals.
Rubber ducky stands out, an unusual oil on canvas that, Frigenti explains, he composed with the intention of proving to his critics that he not only made stencils but also knew how to paint.
The Hammer boy, a kind of tribute to an era, is the only piece that remains on public view, immovable in its original place, the expert emphasizes.
That experience caused a fever. Daily treasure hunters emerged, in an absolute integration between the street and social networks that informed where to go.
Many curious people arrived late because other graffiti artists had already stained the piece. “There are two kinds of feelings towards Bansky. One is of adoration and the other of hatred, those who believe that he is a cunning individual who plays with ideas such as anti-capitalism, against war and the establishment, but who at the same time profits from it, despite that this is difficult to say because it is not in the traditional circuit of art sales”, affirms Frigenti. “What is clear is that it does not happen unnoticed”, he adds.
This rejection surprises New York, a pioneer in urban art. Jean-Michael Basquiat or Keith Haring, among others, forged themselves with the aerosols in the carriages or on the walls.
On other occasions, where the spray of rivals did not reach, their silhouettes remained, but for a short time. Unlike the Zabars, the owners tore out pieces of facade or doors that had served as canvas for the artist to try to make a financial profit.
Other pieces simply fell through the hands of the police, who stigmatized the creator, calling him a vandal and chasing him in vain. Banksy was public enemy number one for New Yorkers in uniform. The then mayor Michael Bloomberg was not in the fan club, who dedicated a few sentences to him.
“He ruins people’s properties, his graffiti is a sign of chaos and loss of control in the city,” he said. “Damaging a building is not an art form”, he pointed out. He overlooked that murals are repeatedly used to add value to buildings. At that time, many owners dreamed of Banksy choosing their facade.
The first footprint appeared on October 1 in eastern lower Manhattan. It was an allegory of what was to come. In that creation – The street is at stake -, a child has another on top of his back so that he can reach a forbidden sign and the legend “graffiti is a crime”.
Banksy was unable to fulfill his promise in its entirety. On October 23, he made this clarification on his website: “Today’s piece of art has been canceled due to police activity.” His next installment consisted of a man with a bouquet of flowers that were losing their petals. “Waiting for you”, he wrote after the hiatus.
Frigenti remembers that it was not the first time that Banksy traveled to New York. He had been there other times and everything points to the fact that he chose this city for his artistic residence, and not any other in the United States, because he was captivated and inspired by its cultural atmosphere. It was also a challenge to the metropolis to experience his presence. The gallerist predicts that, if she returned to celebrate the tenth anniversary, she would not have so many problems with the authorities. “The city is more prepared to welcome him”, he says.
On October 31, Banksy closed his tour in Queens, in one of the outlying neighborhoods. At the top of a facade he composed his name with balloons.
A good sarau was put on. Some went up to take the souvenir and when they came down there were others who tried to take them. The police intervened, and appropriated the balloons. It was the closing metaphor. They had finally caught the fugitive Banksy.
