The Banksy vs Manr Fight In Toronto

Saturday, May 22, 2010

banksy will not be erased
May 14, early morning. “WE WILL NOT BE ERASED.” (Epoch)

After posting an article about the graffiti writer Manr going over a Banksy painting in Toronto we’ve received a lot of comments and opinions about the weather or not Manr was right to do so.

Since then the wall has experienced a battle of opinions itself. Artists from Toronto took it upon themselves to fight back. The photo above is a retaliation to Manr’s throw up over the Banksy painting. The artist created a copy of Banksy’s original painting now saying “WE WILL NOT BE ERASED”.

manr graffiti toronto
May 14, afternoon. (geist zero)

After wards Manr comes back and leaves a quick throw up over the new stencil.

monk stencil graffiti
May 15. A Monk stencil is added to the mix. (Epoch)

manr is an idiot
May 16. “Manr Is An Idiot”. (Nick Kozak/Torontoist)

Finally on May 16th a photo of the original Banksy was pinned to a pole and just above the poll a sticker was added reading “Manr Is An Idiot”.

Source: Torontoist

60 Comments

  • cry baby May 22, 2010, 12:36 pm

    oh boo hoo. As if people even give a shit that stupid Banksy stencil was wrecked. Nice work MANR.

  • Michael Gregoire May 22, 2010, 12:39 pm

    Awesome… a good old fashioned style war! Graffiti is alive and well!

  • MUNCH May 22, 2010, 12:42 pm

    That’s hilarious the epic battle that one Banksy mural caused. Street Drama.

  • Hilary May 22, 2010, 12:54 pm

    That’s funny!

  • Mike May 23, 2010, 12:53 pm

    That is just great, this stuff warms my heart:D

  • Wristwatch May 23, 2010, 10:37 pm

    Jeez that stencil is getting a workout.
    Would love to have seen a comeback by Banksy done freehand – you know, something involving hand style.

  • hey you May 24, 2010, 1:40 pm

    Manr will never lose the stigma of this. Too bad because he was coming along and I was watching him do some amazing things. Now he’ll always be known as “manr the guy who dissed a banksy” not manr the writer.

  • Jen May 24, 2010, 4:45 pm

    Yeah good point. He’s always going to be known as the goof who bombed over a Banksy. I think it was the wrong attempt for fame. He was getting up in Toronto and making a name for himself.

  • wisogee May 25, 2010, 9:50 am

    i think manr did what he was supposed to as a writer, For most(not all) graff writers a banksy joint doesnt mean anything, for street artist and other folk don’t care for graff too much, i guess he’s like the holy grail or something. with all things considerd a battle between street artist and graff writers is bad for business.

  • decor bhg May 25, 2010, 11:06 am

    FUCK THAT GAY BANSKY ART FAG SORRY EXCUSE FOR SO CALLED ART GRABAGE! you gonna paint on the streets? then eventually ull get gone over- doesnt matter who you are. wake up losers its graffiti not a fucking art gallery. bansky is bitch made so are all his fans for crying about this.
    dont make me come to toronto and go over all your gay street art stencil bullshit…

  • TEABAG May 25, 2010, 11:19 am

    banksy shouldnt be mad, manr looks like the bomber type, why would banksy even continue? the manr throwup takes like a minute to do… and banksy dumb stencils take like five, then to make a “MANR IS AN IDIOT” Sticker is just a waste of money and time.

  • i get up May 25, 2010, 11:27 am

    fuck those stencils, I hope manr tops everyone in T dot. Real writers > “Street Art”

  • Ruam May 25, 2010, 12:31 pm

    k how is it gay toprint stickers got your attention and the attention of the public? and most importantly manr, Fuck Manr. cant come close to a ‘true hearted art fag’ Ez toronto

  • 215 May 25, 2010, 12:34 pm

    i think its funny how people are on Banksy’s nuts so much to defend him in beef. Manr is prob a real writer who, if he caught one of those “stencil artists” he would have beat em up. They would have preceded to bitch and moan even more and probably get the police involved instead of taking it for what it is. Graffiti gets gone over. No artist can ever be “too good” to be worthy of untouchable status. Unless youre deceased, bc then you cant take the spot back. Was nice to see the little fight, but Manr is definitely not an idiot for trying to win over a spot. My two cents.

  • 215 May 25, 2010, 12:34 pm

    oh, and the way it seems…anyone in toronto should write over other banksy stencils. Seems like a safe way to get some quick rep.

  • SORT 1 MXC May 25, 2010, 12:38 pm

    MANR KEEPS IT REAL – BANKSY IS A FUCKING FAKE! – Banksy has no art talent – and his messages are not original!!! for fucks sake

    Manr will win this fight because he will never stop going back. If you street artists are willing to go back over him every single week.. then go ahead…you will enventually realize that graffiti takes persistence and no one cares about your pathetic attempt to be political. HAHAHAHAHA EAT IT BITCHEES

  • the dude May 25, 2010, 1:35 pm

    well done manr.

  • Poler May 25, 2010, 2:04 pm

    Banksys ilegal work is actualy realy amazing besides the normal black n white stencils

    banksy fucks shit up for sure

    and this manr vs banksy i wont even touch its not my beef .. but i got mad respect for manrs work too .. i hope neither of them give up

  • Saep May 25, 2010, 2:22 pm

    At first I thought it was sweet because it was a battle between manr and banksy… but now that i know that it’s other stupid street artists I think it’s complete bullshit. If Banksy cared enough about his stencil he would of gone back over it himself no one needs to defend him. His whole trip was a publicity stunt anyways. People only knew that Banksy came because his publicist called the newspapers to let them know. All hype for his movie, He doesn’t care about anything else. So don’t make him out to be some great cause for the street art scene because he’s just trying to get money. So I think it’s completely legit for Manr to ride the publicity wave especially when it’s just for going over a stupid stencil that anyone could of done. Remembers Bombs over Stencils and fuck all you fakes

  • iwsho May 25, 2010, 3:15 pm

    manr did a good job…and he just made a name for himself…u all wannabee art fags (read toys) just don’t have the balls to diss a famed writer…manr respect

  • oink May 25, 2010, 3:34 pm

    to me. it seems as though banksy is getting a little to conceided when it comes to these ‘wars’ the same thing happened with him and robbo. it just seems that he thinks since he is known world wide, he can do what ever the fuck he wants. street art just needs to stay on its own side, you know and not cross the lines into graff.. not where the real writers are to be. it just seems that a lot of street artists just think they’re better than graff writers because its accepted by the media more.

  • Dota ATS May 25, 2010, 8:02 pm

    Yo i hope Banksy be careful if he goes back again. That’d be a shame to get caught over some beef as lame as this.

  • HANDS1 May 25, 2010, 9:02 pm

    No room for Banksy’s garbage in Toronto. Go back to Britain, where they still think stencils are the same as throw ups. Toronto belongs to graffiti and not some faggy shit. fuck you Banksy.

  • HANDS1 May 25, 2010, 9:11 pm

    PS:
    OCAD kids need to fuck off. Graffiti is not anything they teach a theory of, so don’t compare it to anything, because it is unlike anything you have experienced before. If you’re a graffiti head and you go to OCAD, you know this is bullshit so it don’t apply to you. it’s for those other pussies. “Banksy” isn’t “graffiti” and “graffiti” isn’t art.

  • v May 25, 2010, 10:29 pm

    well… now we know where police will be camping out.

  • Skabio1 May 25, 2010, 11:03 pm

    You guys are stupid. there are a lot of banksy fans out there. whose to saythat it was a banksy copy of his original work.

  • EZRA2 May 26, 2010, 10:35 pm

    i understand how someone can get pissed about this in the first place…Plus it looks like its in an ally. its not like MANR went over a Bansky production lol

  • HANDS1 May 27, 2010, 7:07 pm

    banksy can’t do productions because banksy isn’t a writer.

  • Hes May 27, 2010, 11:41 pm

    Banksy does stencils not graffiti. Why is everyone comparing the two of them?

  • FileShare May 29, 2010, 11:31 pm

    They’re being compared because they both put up images illegally.

    I figure there’s a good chance that Banksy doesn’t give a rat’s ass about this dispute and has forgotten about it by now. Anyone that doesn’t expect to get capped here and there is borderline retarded whether they’re a writer or a street artist. I’m sure Banksy and Manr have both put in enough work to know this, and I’m sure Banksy has way more important shit to do than fly back to Toronto to beef with some mediocre graffiti writer. Nobody sensible does street art or graffiti with the expectation that their illegal work is going to last.

    I don’t hate on graffiti culture and I don’t think Banksy is some kind of god, but I do think that Banksy has become a far more interesting and crazy motherfucker than some random dude from Canada who’s pumping out the same formulaic styles as 95% of other graffiti writers.

    Street artists who hate graffiti writers are elitist clowns, but graffiti writers who hate street artists are like hip-hop rednecks or something.

  • .... May 30, 2010, 5:00 pm

    MANR vs. banksy? Really? this is like trying to get an apple and an orange to fight. Two completely different worlds and mentalities are colliding here. even though MANR is just a 17 year old hipster fuck, he is one of the most up writers in the city and has the right to write anywhere over anyone he wants.

    Like the post above mentioned, “street artists” like banksy can measure themselves however high above real writers as they like, but in reality its all the same thing, people drawing shit on walls.

  • dunknow May 30, 2010, 10:50 pm

    17 year old hipster fuck? lol

  • Chuck Delucks June 2, 2010, 10:32 am

    good on manr! art fags need to learn their role amongst the real graffiti culture. also banksy is probably one of the fakest most mainstream wanna-be attempts at street credit ive ever seen. he had his publicist announce that he was in toronto. what kind of street artist or graffiti artist has a publicist? he must be realll hood!

  • fxx August 5, 2010, 11:54 pm

    I will admit it,i am a stencil artist…but im not getting on anyones side…for the people siding with manr its cool and all that he had the chance to go over a banksy stencil but its not that special…and for people siding with banksy,shit happens,grow some balls and stop whining,banksy probably doesnt even care that this happened

  • myname September 23, 2010, 4:41 pm

    rule of graf, dont go over somebody till they do it to you first. so whoever was on their first was right to go over them

  • DEMOS. October 24, 2010, 7:57 pm

    if Banksky didn’t do that stencil himself than who cares. in my mind its not a BANKSY….
    Its just some nobody jocker art student stenciler. Manrs throwie serves….. and its his city!! end of discussion.

  • ER! October 29, 2010, 1:27 am

    Not to swing from nuts, but DECOR and DEMOS got it right. It’s for sure just some rat goof art turd in ass-tight jeans and an ironic mustache. MANR’s tight, Banksy (and all his lame clones) is just some boring, played the fuck out, dribble. Too bad he spawned retards like Jerm IX, which is just the worst shit imaginable. Fucking writing and posting your self-hating weirdo poems around Vancouver? Get a clue. Nobody cares you old shitsucker.

  • anon December 15, 2010, 12:01 am

    lol if banksy painted that, it means he has a stencil of it, so he can just make another one whenever he wants.. who cares if manr covered his shit

  • jerm IX December 18, 2010, 12:53 pm

    ER! thanks for the shout out.

  • teigan February 3, 2011, 10:15 pm

    it’s laughable to think they are battling over space that doesn’t technically belong to either of them. you always have to be prepared to defend your territory. my question is why are these self proclaimed outlaws attacking nobodies like each other? they should be out defacing billboards by trendy companies like apple.

  • Newis March 6, 2011, 10:14 am

    I can’t believe this is actually a debate. People get crossed all the time. If Banksy gave a fuck he’d be out there crossing MANR everywhere.

  • noek one March 31, 2011, 10:49 am

    lol i think banksy was in the wrong just because he came into manrs turf now im not from toronto and i dont know how the seen is up there im from houston and over here its a free for all you hit a wall its yours and of course your going to have people that want to go over your shit just to get their name up thats a part of the graff game but i also think manr is in the wrong too just because banksy hit it first than manr covered it but thats just me -noek one-

  • jobo May 13, 2011, 6:31 pm

    banksy used to do nice hand styles and real graff back in the day

  • bomberman June 24, 2011, 8:47 am

    wat is this shitty spot? who gives a fuck, looks like some indoor practice spot, i doubt it was ever banksy in the first place. he would not be concerned about this, he hits worldwide and is the most famous graffiti artist in the world, of what i can see manr is just another kid writer with no originality.

    and for all you kids; banksy was painting pieces and laying up throws while you were still sucking the milk out your mothers teet, fuckin newbies, come on the scene and you think you know shit? keep your mouth shut and fuckin listen for a change. if theres one thing thing that writers and street artists should remember its respect, and credit where its due. you wanna go over someones shit that looks better than yours, go practice and make your shit look better than theirs, its this progression of development that feeds graffiti and keeps it alive.

  • DEK904 July 20, 2011, 5:12 pm

    @bomberman @jobo Post it. I wanna see his “graffiti” shit. He’s the most famous worldwide “stencil artist” …think anyone runnin’ paint for real gives a fuck about that? Him & Shepard Fairy can both go blow each other & make a stencil outta that.

  • drew September 6, 2011, 4:58 pm

    No… This solidified Manr as a real bomber… how better to get fame than go over the most (wrongfully) famous writer in the world… brilliant mind on manr. That move was SMART…. how many ppl know the name MANR now…. thousands… that was his goal… a top right corner goal if you ask me.

  • m4g1ck.13 September 18, 2011, 6:35 am

    Most of these comments are pretty lame – street artists are supposed to be soldiers in the same war against a common enemy – and that enemy is the machine that is destroying the human spirit – wait let me re-phrase …

    The machine that has DESTROYED the spirit of the human race.

    And here we first have a clown who bombs over someone else’s message regardless of all your poncey opinions about it… and then everyone has a trolling war over who is better and who was right blah blah bligh blegh wada wada fish-paste – wake up you fools!

    Its already too late – we are already a race of slaves!

  • ROCHER April 20, 2012, 9:13 am

    This entire debacle just illustrates the utter tedium + pointlessness of being Canadian

  • DEMER April 24, 2012, 1:05 am

    I’m voting for MANR!

    But everyone got too close to the CAUSR tag!!

  • VANCOUVER ARTISTS July 10, 2012, 2:58 pm

    If those started popping up all over Vancouver… I guarantee you would see them getting gone over.. in a city with a harsh buff… people dont give a fuck about who created the lame stencil they are going over.. Banksy is a ver-payed gimick o a writer who has street teams who put his artwork up… cry me a fucking river!

  • lol July 31, 2012, 7:59 pm

    banksy > graff random

  • teigan August 3, 2012, 4:09 am

    poo>banksy>banksy’s poo

  • kps graffiti October 7, 2012, 4:02 pm

    FUCK BANKSY

    BIG UPS TO MANR

  • Arnz October 14, 2012, 6:34 am

    Banksy man wel tht r way rolln in fame st-war wth othr art’s lik King Robbo now wth M@nrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .

  • Arnz October 14, 2012, 6:37 am

    welll im aye throw up persn not aye stencil MANR !!

  • Brosky November 19, 2012, 4:52 pm

    Wow.. MANR made a lot of accounts (or there’s some unfortunate people on here)

  • cpfsfqhbhlvi December 18, 2012, 9:00 am
  • gladitmlgraff December 19, 2012, 7:08 pm

    if you have a problem with your shit getting crossed maybe canvas is whats best for you

    big ups to toronto writers!!!

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  • Bert Harbinson July 8, 2013, 12:54 pm

    I fucking hate how Banksy comes to these cities and thinks he has the right to go over peoples shit just because his stencils received commercial success. He has absolutely no validity in the graff world and i’m glad there are still people out there like Manr who recognize this and aren’t afraid to show him. You come to our city to paint, show some fucking respect.

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