“Wot eew lookin at?”…

We may be balls deep in a foreclosure crisis and the beginning of a big, old-fashioned recession, but you’d never know it from the results of Sotheby’s first (and frighteningly titled) “Urban Art Auction” that took place this week. British Bad Boy BANKSY made up the bulk of the sale’s offerings, that also included work from FAILE, BLEK LE RAT, KEITH HARING, ADAM NEATE, SPACE INVADER, ANTHONY MICALLEF, and Japanese Pop artists AYA TAKANO, CHIHO AOSHIMA, and TAKASHI MURAKAMI. We’re not sure Takashi Murakami appreciates being classified as an “urban artist” but then again, we’re not sure Sotheby’s cares. Nonetheless, as predicted, Mr Banks stole the show with his top piece fetching a jaw-dropping $443,489 USD (these ARE just spray painted stencils, mind you). With the Pound Sterling, well, “sound as a Pound,” it doesn’t seem like this overheated street art scene is going to die down anytime soon (even a Space Invader piece sold for $32,678 USD in the auction). Our advice to old-fashioned painters spending hundreds of hours hunched over their easels? Adopt a nom de guerre, cut yourself some stencils, rack some paint, and cash in NOW! “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheet’ed?” HAVE A LOOK:

“Laugh Now,” stencil spray paint on painted board (in three part),
42″ x 23,”2002
SALE PRICE: £228,000 ($443,489 USD)

“Untitled,” stencil spraypaint and acrylic on canvas,
36″ x 36,” 2000
SALE PRICE: £191,400 ($372,297 USD)


“Trap Doors,” acrylic and stencil spray paint on canvas,
27″ x 32,” 2000
SALE PRICE: £52,800 ($102,702 USD)

“Kate Moss,” screenprint on paper,
20″ x 20,” 2005
SALE PRICE: £96,000 ($186,732 USD)

“Bomb Love,” stencil spray paint and acrylic on canvas,
8″ x 10″, 2002
SALE PRICE: £55,200 ($107,371 USD)


“Riot Copper,” stencil spray paint on canvas,
12″ x 12″, 2002
SALE PRICE: £48,000 ($93,366 USD)

“Laugh Now,” stencil spray paint on canvas,
16″ x 16″, 2002
SALE PRICE: £74,400 ($144,717 USD)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Art & Commerce, Banksy, Graffiti, London, News, Street Art, art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.