The most wanted man in the world of art
Banksy wreaks public havoc wherever he goes. The artist enjoys the status of the most recognized, influential, and best-selling street artist of today. Young fans of mural paintings may wonder whether the Bristolian urban art legend has always held such significance for the market and industry. Even though opinions on this matter are divided, you can say for sure that Banksy was among the first in the line to make street art a global phenomenon. Let’s see how it started!
In August 2021, Banksy took a special vacation in Norfolk and Suffolk where he painted a series of spectacular artworks. Pieces appeared in a range of East Anglian towns in England, including Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Oulton Broad, Gorleston-on-Sea, King’s Lynn, and Cromer. Known as “A Great British Spraycation,” the public exhibition captured the attention of many lovers and haters of graffiti art far beyond the UK.
Continue reading “Banksy Graffiti Art in Norfolk Has Been Defaced: Why So?”
These days, the phrase “Banksy exhibitions” sounds a bit confusing and misleading, as the last official artist’s exhibit was “Gross Domestic Product” in Croydon, England, in 2019. But what about all those shows popping all across the world from time to time? Well, Banksy simply called them all “fake” on his official website since they were organized without his knowledge or involvement. By the way, the famous exhibition at the Moco Museum in Amsterdam is one of them. After some time, people just started dividing all the events into official and unofficial, with the last obviously being the most prevalent type out of the two. How many of those Banksy street art exhibitions are official, and what can be done with “unofficial” ones?
Continue reading “Banksy Street Art Exhibitions: How Many of Them Are Official?”
The 2004 Banksy print “Love Rat” went unsold at the Anderson and Garland auction house on June 16. A famous street artist’s artwork was estimated at £30,000-50,000 ($31,000-67,000), but a widely recognizable work didn’t even make it to the lowest reserve price set by the Newcastle-based auctioneers. At the same time, Banksy’s original “The Merrivale Stable” was sold by the same auction house for £1 million ($1,2 million) earlier this year in January. So what was the reason behind an unsuccessful sale, and should there be one?
Continue reading “Selling the Same Banksy Print Multiple Times: How Is It Possible?”
Is stealing a product of illegal actions considered a crime? As the recent story from Partis shows us, yes, it is a crime. Several days ago, a group of thieves who stole a Banksy artwork on the door of the Bataclan concert venue in January 2019 was found. The famous street painter created it back in 2015 to honor 90 people killed by terrorists of the Islamic State. Several places were attacked that night, but the biggest number of victims was at the Bataclan music hall. Right now, eight men are on trial for stealing “The Sad Young Girl,” a more down-to-earth title of a piece. The case sparked off traditional Banksy controversy in public, as the price of the artwork is already worth millions of dollars.
Continue reading “Banksy Controversy: Thieves Who Stole Bataclan Door Mural Found”