Photo-finish Friday: Banksy was here

On a walk through Westwood last weekend from Trader Joe's, I came upon a cluster of what seemed to be UCLA students in the entryway to an alley. They were in a state of mild excitement, their attention directed to this graffiti - which I first took as someone's attempt to mimic a Banksy, the British street artist.

"Is Banksy in town?" I asked the kids, and they filled me in. It was in fact a real Banksy and not a knock-off. For documentation, it had already been posted on his website.

Someone, getting in the spirit of it all, had added some graffiti of their own - "for your consideration," a reference to last weekend's Oscars. But a purist with the cold resolve of a MOCA curator was taking a solvent to the added verbiage, which accounts for the smearing on the right.

I didn't notice all the stickers on the door until I got home and studied the pic. The spot, it seems, is a hang-out for street artists, now basking in a moment of  international regard thanks to its famous visitor.

Photo-finish Friday is the bright idea of Leah Utas over at The Goat's Lunch Pail.