Street artists generally leave their work on, y’know, the street. But then there was that one time Banksy hung his art in the Louvre (and the Met, and the Natural History Museum, and MOMA…). And now Nick Walker, another artist from the U.K., is leaving his mark on… Asian Pub?

Yup. Walker (sorry, TMZ, that’s not the elusive Banksy), was spotted atop a cherry picker Monday night working on one of his signature “Morning After Pieces.” And Asian Pub got a little bit more hip.

Call it street art, call it graffiti, call it tagging or piecing—whatever it is, it has been made clear once again that the form is changing. In earlier incarnations, New York City officials worked hard to keep it off the streets, white washing tagged subway cars and locking up vandals. But these days, if you’ve got a couple (500) thousand dollars sitting around, you can have an original Banksy for yourself. Not in this economy?

Not a problem. Try UrbanOutfitters—last time I checked they carried his books. Some attribute this change in street art to the “Banksy Effect,” while others to a market economy. Either way, one thing’s for sure: with the direction the street art world is moving, all those graffitied subway cars we whitewashed back in the day? They probably could have bailed out those poor guys down on Wall Street. Talk about a revolution…

No matter what you think of the changing scene, Nick Walker is someone to keep an eye on. So while Asian Pub is still a far cry from the next big thing, Walker’s New York skyline doused in paint is worth checking out.

If it strikes your interest, look for his umbrella-wielding fellow at Thunder Jackson’s on Bleeker or his vandalizing giraffe at the Roebling Tea Room in Williamsburg. And if you still want more, start saving—this stuff’s not cheap.

Photo by Flickr user pureandapplied used under the Creative Commons