Rude Policeman
The “urban graffiti” artist known only as Banksy is renowned for his street art. With his recognisable stencils and slogans adorning the walls of public buildings, his works are known for their humour and social and political comment.
There is however another side to Banksy: that of the studio artist.
Happy Choppers
His work features the use of various mediums.
There are free hand sketches
The fall of man
Roller Rat
Welcome to London
The stencils are still a favoured medium
Media
Flowerchucker/Love is in the Air
And several are recognisable as those used in some of his outdoor work.
Flying copper
Laugh now
But whatever the medium used, the social comment is still there.
Pooh Bear
Toxic Virgin
Golf Sale
Everyone always says that they want to buy but no one does (Sharks)
Kids on Guns
Feed the World
Have a nice day
Applause
Hunters
Another medium he uses reflects the graffiti of the streets. In the same way that he puts his work onto a canvas:a building created by another person, he literally does the same with some of his studio pieces.
Carwreck
CCtv
Water Lilies
Incident
Crude Oil
His work is now being recognised by the art world and by collectors.
His screen print CND Soldiers went for £3,750. (Approx$8,000)
A screen print, poking fun at the art world, Morons, sold in auction for £5,250 (over $10,000)
In the Auction, his comment on US values, Napalm, based on the famous Nick Ut Pulitzer prize winning photograph of a Vietnamese girl fleeing a bombed village sold for £11,000 (approx $22,000
Bomb Hugger fetched £31,200
The artist's Balloon Girl sold for £37,200,
The image of a couple embracing clad in deep sea diving helmets - which was used for the cover of Blur's Think Tank album - went for £62,400
At the Sotherbys’ Auction House, his pictures of English pensioners bowling with bombs: Bombing Middle England was sold for £102,000 (approx$204,000)
In another Auction, Banksy’s Self-Portrait, showing an ape's face, fetched £198,000
In the same auction, the original artwork Space Girl and Bird, was sold to a telephone bidder from the US for £288,000 (in the region of $580,000)
Bonhams specialist Gareth Williams, said at the time:
"The art market for contemporary cutting edge art is booming and Banksy's work has become part of this culture."
Charles Dupplin, an art expert from insurance company Hiscox, said buyers were "fascinated" by the artist.
"Today's auction demonstrates just how much art by Banksy has skyrocketed in value. Clearly he is an artist in huge demand.
"To have the previous record set by the artist broken twice in quick succession reveals how much fascination there is in Banksy by collectors."
But the story doesn’t end there.
In February 2008, lead singer with the group U2, Bono, with the help of UK artist Damien Hurst organised a charity auction.
Banksy donated a piece of work: Keep it Spotless, a large original canvas based on one of his street pieces.
This was auctioned for a staggering $1.8 million.
"Tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from Aids in the poorest places on the planet," Bono typically said at the auction. "I'm never going to be cynical ever again for a while," Damien Hirst told the BBC. "We've helped change the world a little bit."
(The $42.5 million raised went to the United Nations Foundation to support HIV/Aids relief programs in Africa, organized by the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.)
So the next time you have a bit of spare time , a craft knife, a piece of cardboard and a spraycan…………
Footnote:
Neither Pooh Bear, small children, shopping trolleys or works of art were harmed during the writing of this article. It is believed that the Hunters featured returned to their indigenous way of life whilst becoming a bit savvier about supermarket bargains.
The other articles in this series on The Work of Banksy are:
