EXCLUSIVELY FOR EVERYONE
“The whole point of street art is that it should be affordable.”
So says Mike Snelle of East London art dealer Black Rat Press. But affordable to who exactly? Judging by the £1 million worth of fees accumulated during last week’s Bonhams ‘Urban Art’ auction, affordable to a minority, that’s who. Nick Walker (see below), a British artist, sold Moona Lisa, a spray-paint-on-canvas piece from 2006, for £54,000, more than ten times its upper estimate. Other lesser known artists sold pieces for similarly inflated prices. And no prizes for guessing who’s work sold for the highest . Yep, Banksy’s Laugh Now, a chimpanzee with a sandwich board over his shoulders, fetched £228,000. An upcoming exhibition of Banksy’s work at the Andipa Gallery, London, prices Banksy’s Bombing MIddle England at £300,000.
How strange to see works created for the street, for mass democratic viewing, being removed from their intended setting and placed in the hands of a private owner. Banksy argues that ‘street art’ shouldn’t be sold by auction houses and that any shows in established art galleries have nothing to do with him: “It’s all stuff they bought previously. I only ever mount shows in warehouses and war zones.” Street art for sale? An interesting paradox.
Elsewhere on his site, Banksy continues to list his influences with stories about the writers that inspired him. I don’t remember seeing any of these in an auction house; must have missed it...
"In 1974 a 33 year old man named George Davis was convicted of robbing the payroll of the London Electricity Board in Ilford. He was nailed on the evidence of cops who were outside the bank at the time of the robbery and was sent to prison for 20 years.
However, his friend Peter Chappell was convinced Davis was innocent and inspired by discrepancies in the police statements and the fact that none of the bloodstains at the scene matched with the defendant, started calling for Davis' release. Chappell enrolled some friends and embarked on one of the largest sustained graffiti campaigns Britain has ever seen. Over the following months 'G DAVIS IS INNOCENT' appeared on walls, bridges and tunnels from one side of London to the other, some of which are still visible today.
The vandalism culminated in Chappell and four others breaking into Headingley cricket ground in August 1975 the night before a test match between England and Australia. Using plastic cutlery from a service station they dug holes in the pitch, filled them with oil and painted 'Sorry it had to be done, but George Davis is innocent' in large white letters on the wall as they left. The match was postponed and Chappell got 18 months for criminal damage.
The campaign brought the case to the attention of the Home Secretary who after a police inquiry released Davis two years into his sentence using the highly exceptional and controversial Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
The fight to free George Davis was one of the most spectacular campaigns ever fought against injustice, an achievement only slightly marred when a year after his release Davis was found guilty of robbing the Bank of Cyprus for which he served six years, and three years after which he was caught red-handed robbing a mail train.
George Davis is now a free man and happily married to the daughter of a North London Chief Inspector of Police."
So says Mike Snelle of East London art dealer Black Rat Press. But affordable to who exactly? Judging by the £1 million worth of fees accumulated during last week’s Bonhams ‘Urban Art’ auction, affordable to a minority, that’s who. Nick Walker (see below), a British artist, sold Moona Lisa, a spray-paint-on-canvas piece from 2006, for £54,000, more than ten times its upper estimate. Other lesser known artists sold pieces for similarly inflated prices. And no prizes for guessing who’s work sold for the highest . Yep, Banksy’s Laugh Now, a chimpanzee with a sandwich board over his shoulders, fetched £228,000. An upcoming exhibition of Banksy’s work at the Andipa Gallery, London, prices Banksy’s Bombing MIddle England at £300,000.
How strange to see works created for the street, for mass democratic viewing, being removed from their intended setting and placed in the hands of a private owner. Banksy argues that ‘street art’ shouldn’t be sold by auction houses and that any shows in established art galleries have nothing to do with him: “It’s all stuff they bought previously. I only ever mount shows in warehouses and war zones.” Street art for sale? An interesting paradox.
Elsewhere on his site, Banksy continues to list his influences with stories about the writers that inspired him. I don’t remember seeing any of these in an auction house; must have missed it...
"In 1974 a 33 year old man named George Davis was convicted of robbing the payroll of the London Electricity Board in Ilford. He was nailed on the evidence of cops who were outside the bank at the time of the robbery and was sent to prison for 20 years.
However, his friend Peter Chappell was convinced Davis was innocent and inspired by discrepancies in the police statements and the fact that none of the bloodstains at the scene matched with the defendant, started calling for Davis' release. Chappell enrolled some friends and embarked on one of the largest sustained graffiti campaigns Britain has ever seen. Over the following months 'G DAVIS IS INNOCENT' appeared on walls, bridges and tunnels from one side of London to the other, some of which are still visible today.
The vandalism culminated in Chappell and four others breaking into Headingley cricket ground in August 1975 the night before a test match between England and Australia. Using plastic cutlery from a service station they dug holes in the pitch, filled them with oil and painted 'Sorry it had to be done, but George Davis is innocent' in large white letters on the wall as they left. The match was postponed and Chappell got 18 months for criminal damage.
The campaign brought the case to the attention of the Home Secretary who after a police inquiry released Davis two years into his sentence using the highly exceptional and controversial Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
The fight to free George Davis was one of the most spectacular campaigns ever fought against injustice, an achievement only slightly marred when a year after his release Davis was found guilty of robbing the Bank of Cyprus for which he served six years, and three years after which he was caught red-handed robbing a mail train.
George Davis is now a free man and happily married to the daughter of a North London Chief Inspector of Police."
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