Life in the Fast Lane

A graffiti painting by the illusive and infamous artist Banksy was sold for more than $390,000 (208,100) on eBay on Monday, illustrating an artist in outmoded clothing putting the finishing touches on the word “BANKSY” spray painted in red. The piece was scrawled on a wall on the Portobello Road in the west London district of Notting Hill.

Photo AFP / Carl de Souza

Now the leading trick is for the new owner to get it home after defeating 68 bids. They may have won the painting and the wall it’s on, but they will have to reckon how to get the whole work moved and pay to replace the wall.

“I am selling the wall because I can’t really justify owning a piece of art worth as much as it is.” said Luti Fagbenle, the owner of the property on which the graffiti was sprayed.

The artist had scaffolding clandestinely erected on a Sunday morning, while Portobello’s famous antiques market was in the peak of activity so he could paint the work undetected.

Neighbors were tipped off when they got curious, said Fagbenle. “A few hours later the scaffolding went down. And there it was.”

The reclusive, illusive, infamous artist from the UK city of Bristol never allows himself to be photographed. His identity remains unknown, but his work is prolific.

Banksy’s legendary and provocative works — which include paintings on Israel’s barrier through the West Bank and commentaries on consumerism and power — have become highly sought after collectors’ items.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie acquired one of Banksy’s paintings at a Los Angeles auction for 200,000 pounds in 2006.

Banksy is responsible for mysteriously and surreptitiously embellishing the streets, walls, bridges and zoos of towns and cites throughout the world. Witty and subversive, his stencils depict Mona Lisa and monkeys with weapons of mass destruction, cops with smiley faces, and rats with drills and umbrellas.

His statements, provocations, ironies and axioms are by turns intelligent and cheeky comments on everything from the monarchy and capitalism to the war in Iraq and farm animals.

“Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours, it belongs to you. It’s yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.” says Banksy.

Bansky in the Museum
The work of Banksy is unmistakable, except perhaps when it’s suspended on the walls of the Tate or New York’s Metropolitan Museum The artist managed to evade security and hang his work in 4 of New York’s most prestigious and well-guarded museums. Banksy claims to have carried out the extraordinary, covert smuggling maneuver in one day, during opening hours.

Some of the pieces went undetected for several days, including a hi-tech beetle, equipped with missiles stuck to its wings, hung in the Natural History Museum’s “Hall of biodiversity.”

Banksy raided the Metropolitan Museum, but chose to spare the Guggenheim. “I would have had to appear between two Picassos.” he said. “And I’m not good enough to get away with that.”

Three other museums unwittingly hosted some of Banksy’s work — the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

“They’ve got their eye a lot more on things leaving than things going in, which works in my favor.” he said.

He told Reuters that he’d been inspired to do the crafty feat by his sister, who had thrown away several of his pictures saying they’d never hang in the world-renowned Paris museum.

His unusual pieces of art briefly on display which he smuggled into the Brooklyn Museum included a military officer holding a spray can with anti-war graffiti in the background.

Banksy explained how he managed to dodge security checks dressed as a British pensioner with a fake beard, and accomplices to distract museum personnel.

He entered each of the galleries and attached one of his own works, complete with authorative name plaque and explanation.

The artist said, “This historic occasion has less to do with finally being embraced by the fine art establishment and is more about the judicious use of a fake beard and some high strength glue.” Banksy added, “They’re good enough to be in there, so I don’t see why I should wait.”

Banksy has staged similar stunts in the past, including the Louvre in France, the Tate Art Museum in which the painting wasn’t noticed until it fell to the ground, and the British Museum by planting a hoax cave painting of a man pushing a supermarket trolley, which he said went unnoticed for 3 days.

Bansky goes to New York

Bansky Guerrilla Art

See more of Banksy’s artwork at his website.

Sources: The Australian, OMG Yahoo, BBC News, and Banksy. Photos property of Banksy.

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