[I'm pretty sure I've never done this before, but he's a more or less double-posting: I just put this up on Murketing, but think it makes sense here too. And possibly for those of you with an eye on Gustav, this will be a mildly amusing distraction.]
Coudal.com links to a set of Flickr images apparently showing new work by Banksy, in New Orleans.
Of interest to me are this one and this one. These allude to something you may have noticed if you’ve spent time in New Orleans: Lots of squarish blocks of gray rolled-on paint, all over the place, blotting out what used to be graffiti or street art. The guy behind this is Fred Radtke, a/k/a The Gray Ghost: Basically an anti-graf zealot who rides around town and paints over every tag or other street art manifestation he sees, Radtke is a much-reviled figure among N.O. graffiti types.
This image below is not one of the ones linked above; it was taken some time later:
Originally uploaded by toaminorplace.
The earlier version had the guy painting over a flower; now the whole flower has been rollered out. By Radtke? Hard to say. Seems difficult to believe he would take the care evident here — but maybe he was flattered or amused by this.
Personally, I’ve always found Radkte to be perversely impressive. E and I were last in New Orleans in December (actually she’s been back since then), and the Gray Ghost’s blobby “work” was everywhere. I like his quote in this old article: “I know them all and they know me, absolutely,” he says of N.O. graffiti writers, and he knows they hate him. “But they understand,” he adds, “that I take out everything.” And it’s true: The guy is basically the king of kings in N.O. — the ultimate bomber.
A couple of years ago I did some research into the song "St. James Infirmary," wrote up what I found, emailed that essay to friends and posted it on my web site (as part of a series of "Letters From New Orleans," as I was living in that city at the time). Based on the feedback, I wrote a second version of the essay, and asked for more feedback. Based on that, I wrote a 
I admire the poetic sensibility of the stencil artist who has started stenciling Radke’s face on walls.
There was a good piece on graffiti and Radke in New Orleans’ Times-Picayune a month ago, but I can’t find it online to link to it.
The stencil artist is the one who blocked out with the lighter colored paint and if you look closely the images formed by the lighter colored blocking are of a small child reaching out and of a pregnant woman holding a baby.
It’s a stunning and poignant allegory of artists expressing the pain of Katrina and being censored. Very intelligent work.
the stencil done above is a banksy!! he came to new orleans last year? to fight the gray ghost.
the gray ghost has since covered up at least one of his pieces that i know of… on st. claude ave.