Cautious welcome for Banksy

NEW YORKERS welcomed the reclusive graffiti artist Banksy with caution yesterday. In his first official exhibition in the city, the Briton has set up a fake pet supply shop, complete with large furry animals, rhesus monkeys and rabbits, in Manhattan.

But the creatures are all fakes created by the artist who aimed to question “our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming” in his work at The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill.

“New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets,” he said. “So I’m exhibiting them instead.”