Hansky Sold at Auction Prices

Hanksy is the pseudonym for street artist and parodist Adam Lucas based in New York City.[1] As the moniker implies, he is best recognized for making humorous, pun-themed work related to popular culture icons and putting those images on the street; for instance, in the work that inspired his artist name, Hanksy combined the body of fellow underground artist Banksy's classic rat with a cartoon face of actor Tom Hanks.[2] Hanksy's work has been discussed in numerous publications including: The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Magazine and The Washington Post and in 2016, a documentary series related to his installation Surplus Candy aired on Ovation TV.

Hanksy started making art in this street format in 2011 in Manhattan when he created a combination image of the body of Banksy's rat holding a paint roller with the cartoon head of actor Tom Hanks. Rather than paint the work on a traditional canvas, he pasted it on the side of a building in Little Italy hoping to amuse his friends.[1] The image soon went viral on social media, encouraging Hanksy to develop his street moniker and expand his portfolio of popular culture mashup puns.[4] Since 2011, Hanksy has created hundreds of images that he continues to paste on the streets but also paint on canvases that are exhibited across the country.[5] Banksy has yet to comment on the parody; however, Tom Hanks is supportive of the work and shared a photograph posing next to Hanksy on his Twitter account.