riferimento=

Banksy

Banksy: Art for Sale. Discover Prices for Banksy Artworks

Banksy: Art for Sale on Deodato Arte - Maintaining an anonymous identity, the British street artist Banksy is among the most famous artists in the world. His provocative graffiti criticize the hypocrisies of today's society using a style that is simple and accessible. Armed with stencil and with his typical irony, Banksy has been able to deal with topics such as war, terrorism and criticism of consumerism.

His works have become iconic images of today's society. Among them the Balloon Girl, Pulp Fiction and the Flower Thrower are certainly among the most famous.

Set Descending Direction
per page
Set Descending Direction
per page

History and Artworks of the Street Artist Banksy

The British Contemporary Artist and Writer Banksy is nowadays defined as one of the greatest exponents of Street Art.

The mystery about his identity has contributed, in the years, to the increase of his popularity, making him one of the most famous street artists of all times.

Thanks to the Stencil Art Banksy has found the way to realise all his artworks in a short time, using the cities he visited as canvases.

His works evolve around themes such as politics, culture and ethics, ironically reinterpreted in order to enhance their meaning.

Let’s see below as Bansky Street Art has born and let’s find out curiosities and theories about the secret identity of the artist by observing the most famous works, the Paintings and the Graffiti of the famous British Street Artist.



Banksy Biography – Highlights of Banksy’s life

In the year 2000, the Street Artist Banksy moves to London(it’s told he was born in Bristol), where he keeps to cultivate his passion for graffiti, improving also his technique.

The British artist starts to use the Stencil, which allowed him to make screen prints, but most of all, was fast to realise, therefore helping him in maintaining his anonymity.

In 2003, at the apex of his career, and following the collaboration with the English group Blur, it is realised by Banksy Think Tank, the cover of their album.

In the same year, the artist starts also to revisit great masterpieces of the past, like for example the intervention he did of Monet’s Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies by adding rubbish in the water of the pond.

The satirical and subversive irony so typical in the works of the Street Artist has always risen great curiosity and uproar.

Like, for example, when in 2004 he targeted the Royal Family creating banknotes of 10 pounds with Princess Diana’s face printed on them, instead of Queen Elizabeth, and the writing "Banksy of England" instead of "Bank of England".

In 2005 Banksy goes to West Bank, where again he manages to turn the media attention on the situation caused by the war, thanks to his graffiti realised on the wall that divides the city from Israel.

At this point, the fame of the artist is internationally known, and in 2008 he organises the Cans Festival, an exhibition dedicated to the Stencil Art inside an abandoned tunnel in London, where were represented many artist from all over the world.

In 2010 he plays the role of the director, debuting at the Sundance Film Festival with Exit Through the Gift Shop , a documentary film where he recounts part of Thierry Guetta life.

With this Documentary Banksy had a huge success, so much that the film was nominated at the Academy Awards of 2011 as best documentary, and Banksy himself was nominated Person of the Year at the Webby Awards in 2014.

At the time of the projection of the documentary in the US, the artist started also to fill the cities of the country with his works, becoming famous also among American stars.

In 2015 takes place the temporary artistic installation of Banksy Dismaland, which will stay open from the 21st of August to the 27th of September of the same year.

Banksy last genius idea has taken form recently. In fact, in October 2019 the artist opened the Gross Domestic Product in London, a pop- up store closed to the public and that could be view only by the windows from the outside.

The shop closed on October 13, but the works could still be bought on the Online Shop, appositely created for this reason, by booking the item before October 28, 2019.

Together with the opening of the bookings, on the site of the Gross Domestic Product has appeared a link on the footer sending to the new website BBay.

Day after day, the artist gets people to talk about him and he always manages to surprise the public with artworks of great impact and reflective character.


Who is Banksy? The Mysterious Identity of the Street Artist

The unknown but also super famous Street Artist Banksy is undoubtedly among the most popular street artist in history.

The mysterious identity is among the factors that helped the writer to enhance his fame, creating a sort of myth. In fact, the only information certain enough are that Banksy was born in Bristol in 1974.

Banksy started to create his first works in freeform in the underground scene of Bristol, at the community centre of Burton Hill.

His first collaborations have been with the DryBreadZ Crew, tanking inspiration from local artists, using as nickname Tes and Kato.

In the years, the artist has been associated to many persons such as Robert del Naja of Massive Attack, Robin Cunningham and Mr Brainwash, but it has also been said that he might be a woman or, even, a group of artists.

Very few are the people who have had the privilege to interview him, one of these is Simon Hattenstone from the Guardian Unlimited.

The journalist describes him as a mix between the actor Jimmy Nail and the British rapper Mike Skinner, for his odd look which included tooth, necklace and earring, all in silver.

One thing is certain, during his career Banksy has demonstrated to the world that it is possible to be famous and still remain anonymous.


Is Banksy Mr Brainwash?

As previously said, among the names associated to Banksy identity stands out that of Mr Brainwash, another one among the most famous Contemporary Street Artist .

Mr Brainwash, pseudonym of Thierry Guetta, was born in France in 1966 and grew up in Los Angeles, where he starts to discover the world of Street Art, becoming passionate about it.

During the first years 2000, Thierry starts to follow important street artists, as his cousin Invader and his friend Shepard Fairey, known also as Obey.

The rising artist had fun filming with his camera their nocturnal raids, while learning also all the techniques.

It is thanks to Obey that the meeting between Mr Brainwash Banksy takes place, from which will start an artistic collaboration that will eventually become a strong friendship.

Is Mr Brainwash Banksy?
Mr Brainwash is one of the hypothetical identities of Banksy

Banksy, as the other artists, accepts to be filmed by Thierry, since he was curious about the idea of a documentary on Street Art, yet showing on video just his shoulders and hands to maintain the anonymity.

Banksy himself though is not satisfied with the video, and advises Thierry to leave the camera aside and dedicate himself to the art, showing his works to someone..

At that point the roles change: Banksy becomes the director and starts to film, with the help of Fairey, the artist that, from that moment on, will be called Mr Brainwash.

The outcome of this project is Exit Through The Gift Shop, a documentary that describes the artistic rise of Mr Brainwash.

The documentary is structured as a series of filmed artistic performances and interviews to several Street Artists, among whom is Banksy himself, who appears with the face blacked out.

In 2008 Thierry organises his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, titled Life is Beautiful, where he shows his artistic abilities creating a huge event.

Mixing Warhol with Basquiat, combining Keith Haring and Pollock and using also the artworks Banksy, Mr Brainwash had a great success, making his way in the world of Contemporary art.

In 2010 Exit Through the Gift Shop is nominated to the Academy Awards, giving to the two artists even more exposure.

The relationship between the two Street Artists is now well known and, with the release of the movie, the first theories about the possibility that Mr Brainwash Banksy could be the same person starts to spread out.

Firstly, the style of the two is very similar; as a matter of fact, for his works Mr. Brainwash often uses Banksy iconic images, creating a sort of collage of different works and techniques.

Moreover, Banksy interest in Mr Brainwash is seen as something unusual, since rarely a street artist gets so curious and interested about the success of another artist.

During the years, the suppositions have been many and most diverse, and to prove this theory wrong there are a series of official documents that certify Thierry Guetta’s life in Los Angeles and make this hypothesis dubious.

The only thing that can be said is that Mr Brainwash can be surely defined as Banksy greatest artwork.


Is Robert del Naja of Massive Attack Banksy?

Another name associated to the possible identity of Banksy is that of Robert del Naja, frontman of the British trip hop group Massive Attack.

During the years, many have been the coincidences that led to this connection, although Banksy true identity is still a mystery.

To begin with, the two artists share the native city, Bristol, where both of them have moved their first step in the world of the Street Art.

Robert del Naja, also known with the pseudonym of 3D at the beginning was, as matter of fact, a writer and was part of The Wild Bunch, with whom he realised graffiti around the city .

Banksy was part of the DryBreadZ of Bristol, and he too was starting to fill the walls of the buildings with his works.

To Robert del Naja can be given the merit to have brought the technique of stencil in the Street Art of Bristol, a method that Banksy appreciates a lot, so much that he decides to make it his own for the creation of his works.

Is Robert del Naja Banksy?
Is the front man of Massive Attack Robert del Naja Banksy?

The writer 3D makes his apppearance also in Banksy documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop, who gives back the favour writing the introduction of Mr Del Naja book "3D & the Art of Massive Attack".

In this text Banksy tells that, when he was 10 years old, there was a kid called 3D who used to paint on the streets and then eventually stopped, so to found the band Massive Attack.

The artist states that this would be a great fortune for 3D, but at the same time a great loss for the city, and he underlines what an important source of inspiration he has been for Banksy.

The connection between Banksy and Robert del Naja is clearly evident.

The theory that they could be the same person is emphasised by the journalist Craig Williams, who, thanks to some investigations, notices how some tour dates of Massive Attacks have corresponded with the appearances of Banksy Artworks in nearby places.

Williams found out at least six occasions when Banksy Murals have appeared in the same city shortly before or after the concerts of the British band.

One has been during the Massive Attack exhibition at the Sound Academy in Toronto, where, on the same day, have appeared works by Banksy.

On another occasion, it happened in New York, when, together with the arrival of the band in the city, has been noticed for the first time The Street is in Play by Banksy.

The same scheme is repeated in Melbourne, Boston, Los Angeles e New Orleans.

At this point, the journalist Williams has theorised that behind Banksy identity could be hidden also a group of artists who follow the Massive Attack around the world, but many are still convinced on Robert del Naja.

In addition to what just said, among the episodes that associate Banksy with del Naja there is also the famous gaffe of the music producer Goldie during an interview on the radio.

To a question on the commericialization of the art by Banksy, Goldie answered: "Take a t-shirt, put graffiti letters on it, then write 'Banksy' and we are set. We can sell it right away." And he continued: "Not to disrespect Robert, I think he is a brilliant artist and that he has twisted the art world."

But Robert who?? The silence gap and the evident embarrassment of the producer, who quickly changed the subject, made think about the most obvious connection: Banksy could really be Robert del Naja of Massive Attack.

The last hint that recall the attention on this issue has come out recently, in october 2019, in the temporary installation in London created by Banksy, the Gross Domestic Product.

The GDP is a closed exposition of some artworks by Banksy, located in an abandoned tapestry shop, which has been open because of a legal controversy related to the artist.

The products can be bought on the Online store and, among these, one object catch the eye of the most attentive viewers.

From one of the windows is visible a fireplace with inside a sign with the same image that was on the cover of the debut album of the Massive Attack Blue Lines del 1991.

We do not know if it is another joke of Banksy or a hint about his identity, we just know that there are many elements that associate the two artists.


Scientific Theories: Banksy is Robin Gunningham?

The mystery on Banksy identity has become, with the time, an issue that has interested people from all over the world.

Among the profiles associated to the genius of Street Art appears also that of Robin Cunningham, named as Banksy for the first time by the Daily Mail in 2008.

In 2016, some academics of the Queen Mary University of London developed an accurate research using location techniques called Dirichlet Process Mixture (DPM) usually employed to locate serial criminals.

They stated that the profile of Robin Gunnigham could correspond to the identity of Banksy.

He is a British man of 42 years old born in Bristol from a middle-class family, educated in private schools and passionate about art, who then moved to London in 2000.

Based on the chronology of Banksy works’ appearance, the year 2000 was when he was focusing his works mostly in London.

The academics got the information studying more than 140 places where Banksy has realised his works, creating a map of the places the artist has visited most times.

Comparing these locations with the publicly-available information and the details told by the artist during various interviews, they certified that there were several compatibilities with Robin Gunningham relocations.

These studies have brought to the surface the closeness between Banksy murals and the places connected to Gunningham that are:

  • - The apartments of Robin’s wife in London, in the area of Great North Road and Old Street,
  • - Gunnigham’s houses in Bristol, in Easton and Baptist
  • - The playgrounds of Mills Elementary School.

Moreover, the Queen Mary University research got the attention of Banksy’s lawyers, who wanted to verify how the study would have been explained to the press, delaying the publication of couple of days.

In this case too, it was not possible to difinitively certify that Banksy is Robin Gunnigham, leaving that mystery halo which has always characterised the Street Artist.


Banksy: Street Art Artworks

Banksy artworks are famous all over the world and are characterised by catchy images often combined with slogans, so to favour the immediacy of the message he wants to convey with Street Art.

For some, his works are moving, funny, stimulating, while for others is just vandalism; sure thing is that Banksy possesses a great talent in making his opinions known as no one else so far.

Using the city’s buildings, bridges and any other surfaces that inspired him to create his Murals, Banksy has succeeded in getting the art closer to a greater public and to be known internationally, despite the impossibility to give a face to the man.

Banksy favourite subjects are elderly people, kids, policemen but also animals as monkeys and rats, the latter often used in his drawings.

The Street Artist ironically represents the problems afflicting our society, starting from the politics ones, to the cultural and ethical ones. Below some of the most famous Street Art works by Banksy.


Banksy - Balloon Girl

In Balloon Girl, Banksy represents a little girl stretching her hand towards a red balloon shaped like a heart carried away by the wind, and closeby the writing “There is always hope”.

The red of the balloon wants to be opposed to the overwhelming black shades of the image, recalling a metaphor: also in the darkest moments can be found rays of light, we need to have hope, always”.

The first Street Art representation of Girl With Balloon appears in Waterloo Bridge in 2002, even though it is not the only one in London.

Banksy image of the Girl with Balloon has become one of the most represented figures of the artist.

Its variations have been used for social campaigns, among which the one in West Bank in 2005, the one for the Syrian refugees crisis of 2014, and also for the British election in 2017.

Balloon Girl - Banksy
Mural in London, Waterloo Bridge - 2002 - Balloon Girl - Banksy

ln 2018, thanks to Balloon Girl Bansky had people talking about him a lot, and the Girl with Balloon painting reached the peek of popularity in auction at Sotheby’s.

In fact, after it had been sold for more than 1 million pounds, Banksy Artwork was partly destroyed with a mechanism installed by the artist inside the frame.

The painting has been renamed “Love is in the Bin” and authenticated by the Pest Control, the organisation entitled to provide the certificates of authenticity of his works.

Sotheby's has defined Banksy Balloon Girl as the first artwork in history to be created during an auction.


Banksy - Flower Thrower

The mural by Banksy Flower Thrower is part of a group of Street Art works realised by the writer during his trip in West Bank.

The works has been created on the wall of a private building in Jerusalem, and it is surely one of his most famous and reproduced works.

Flower Thrower represents a young man with the face covered with a handkerchief who would seem involved in a fight, ready to trow a flowers’ bouquet instead of a Molotov.

This Banksy Mural is in black and white, the only spot of colour in the flowers, which are the symbol of peace.

The artist decided to represent the “Flower Trower” in a war zone, so to convey a direct and immediate message.

The flowers could also be interpreted as commemorative symbol for the victims of the war during the years.

The image of the Flower Thrower has been used by Banksy also for the cover of the book Wall and Piece, a collection of his works from 2005.

Recently, a screen print of the work has been exhibited at Banksy pop-up store in London, the Gross Domestic Product.

Banksy - Flower Thrower
The famous Flower Thrower by Banksy

Banksy - Kissing Coppers

Banksy work Kissing Coppers is realised in 2004 in Brighton, on the wall of the Pub Price Albert in Trafalgar Street.

This mural represents two policemen, in uniform, kissing each other, and it can be interpreted in different ways.

First of all, Banksy wants to share a message of tolerance about sexual identity, using two icons of authorities to favour gay rights.

Although some have interpreted the work as a joke against the policemen, by showing them in a intimate attitude, others have grasped the human aspect hidden behind the choice of this subject, underlining the strong relation that connects partners and colleagues.

With the passing of time, this work, as many other Street Art works by Banksy, has been vandalised, pushing the owner of the pub to sell it to a gallery in New York in 2008.

Banksy - Kissing Coppers
Mural by Banksy Kissing Coppers

In 2011, after being transferred on canvas by a company specialised in restoration of artworks, the work has been substituted with a fac-simile protected by a Perspex sheet.

Kissing Coppers has been finally sold at auction for 575.000 American Dollars in 2014 from the Faam in Miami, and purchased by an anonymous buyer.

Banksy iconic image of the policemen has been used as image for the Moco Museum campaigns during the Gay pride in Amsterdam in 2018.


Banksy - Pulp Fiction

The first version of Pulp Fiction by Street Artist Banksy appears for the first time near the subway station of Old Street in London in 2002.

In the work Pulp Fiction, Banksy represent the famous scene of Quentin Tarantino movie of 1994, where the characters interpreted by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta show up holding a banana instead of the guns.

In 2004 the work has been produced in a series of 150 official signed prints and a series of 600 unsigned prints.

In 2007, the organisation that manages the public transport, “Transport for London”, decided to delete Banksy image after 5 years, covering it with black paint.

Pulp Fiction - Banksy
Pulp Fiction - Banksy

The organisation justified this choice saying that the work gave a sense of social decadence to the capital, despite it was attracting fans and tourists whom strongly criticised this choice.

Banksy mural Pulp Fiction, which had been evaluated 300.000£ and then covered, left the place to a writing dedicated to Banksy by a writer:

"Come back soon" and so it was. In reply to this request, Banksy realised on the same wall another masterpiece, with the same characters but this time dressed up as bananas holding the guns.

The mural of the artist was covered again, this time by a writer called Ozone who wanted to provoke the artist writing on it: “If it is better, next time I’ll leave it”.

Ozone himself died shortly after at the age of 19 with the colleague Wants, crushed by a metro train at Barking, East London.

After this tragedy Banksy created a new work in memory of the two artists in the same spot where Pulp Fiction was, which will be called Ozone's Angel.

In this image he represented an angel with bullet-proof jacket holding a skull in the right hand, and published also a note on his website remembering Ozone as a great artist.


Napalm Girl - Banksy - Can't Beat That Feeling

Napalm Girl is one of the strongest, moving and provoking works created by Banksy in 2004. In this artwork he re-used the iconic photo took by Nick Ut in 1972 about the Vietnam war and titled The Terror of War.

The photograph portrays a little girl called Kim Punch who, desperate, runs away from her village that has been attacked with napalm.

Banksy isolated the figure of the kid and placed to her sides the images of Ronald Mc Donald and Mickey Mouse, icons of the American capitalism for families, and of the same country that bombed Vietnam.

The contrast between the expression of terror on the kid’s face and the bright smiles of the other two characters is almost creepy.

The artist wants to provoke a strong reaction, highlighting both the carefree and funny side of American culture, and the dark and superficial one of a capitalist country that throw bombs at people.

Napalm Girl is one of the few works by Banksy that has never appeared on the streets.

Napalm Girl - Banksy
Opera di Banksy - Napalm Girl

Sweep it Under the Carpet - Banksy

Sweep it Under the Carpet by Banksy appears for the first time in 2006 on a wall at the crossroad between Regents Park Road and Chalk Farm, in the North of London.

In this Street Art artwork is represented a woman dress as a maid who hold up the wall as if it was a curtain, sweeping rubbish under it.

With this Mural Banksy wanted to report the reluctance with which the government was facing the issue of AIDS, as hiding the problem under the carpet.

Moreover, the artist wants to underline that in the past only Princes and Popes had the possibility to be portrayed, and presents the maid as Leanne, an exuberant woman who used to clean his room in a Los Angeles Motel.

Banksy work - Sweep It Under the Carpet
Banksy works in London - Sweep It Under the Carpet

In the past, the British journal "The Independen"t affirmed to have commissioned this work to Banksy, who though has promptly denied the news on his website, saying that he does not and has no intention to make in the future graffiti on commission.

In 2007, another representation of Sweep it Under the Carpet appeared on the wall of the WhiteCube Gallery on the side of Hoxton Square, but it was removed 2 months later.

It seems that the policy of the gallery states that graffiti have to be removed the day after of the creation and, despite it was made an exception for Banksy’s work to postpone the removal after a month, soon the work disappeared leaving everyone embittered.

WhiteCube defended itself saying that it was not their idea to remove Banksy Graffiti, and that they wanted to preserve the work, but they do not know who blame for it.


Devolved Parliament – Record for Banksy!!!

Banksy Devolved Parliament is an ironic representation of the British Parliament, realised in academic style and where the deputies are portrayed as monkeys.

With this painting, Banksy wants to highlight his disapproval against the Government about the management of politics issues.

The fact that the painting was realised 10 years before the announcement of Brexit shows the foresight and the ability of the artist to forecast events and represent them in his works.

The original version of the work was titled Question Time and was shown for the first time in 2009 during a 12-weeks-long exhibition in Bristol, Banksy’s native city.

Devolved Parliament - Banksy
Devolved Parliament - Banksy

Afterwards, mostly because of the events linked to Brexit, the canvas has been modified; it has therefore been titled “Devolved parliament” and sold to the actual owner.

Many are the differences that can been noticed between the two versions, starting from the big chandeliers, which are turned on in the first paintings and completely missing in the second, to the less visible alterations regarding the chimpanzees.

Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the parliament results bright and shiny in the first verion, while in the second gets darker, portraying the place in a sort of state of abandon.

In October 2019 Sotheby’s sold the artwork by Banksy “Devolved Parliament” for the record price of 11 millions of euro.

The painting had been estimated around 1.5/2 millions pounds, and it has been sold for the highest price ever seen for an artwork by Street Artist.


Banksy - Morons - "I Can't Belive you Morons Actually Buy This Shit"

Morons is a screen print realised by Banksy in 2006, and represents an auctioneer presenting a painting at auction in a room filled with people.

On the artwork for sale the writing:" I Can't Believe you Morons Actually Buy This S##t ".

This artwork was exhibited for the first time in 2006, during the famous event Barely Legal in Los Angeles, organised by Banksy in a warehouse.

Morons is part of the rare set made of 6 pieces named Barely Legal Print Set, specifically created for the LA exhibition, along with other screen prints reproducing the favourite subjects of the artist.

For the exhibition, this image was reproduced in 100 unsigned prints, but then, in 2007, was printed an additional unsigned edition of 500 prints in various colours, in addition to the signed black and white edition of 150 and the sepia one of 300 prints.

Banksy - Morons -
Banksy artworks Morons

With this Screen print Banksy wanted to ironically interpret the contemporary art market that he considered as a club of privileged people.

The artist criticizes the insane prices that can be reached by some artworks, as for exaple the case of the “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh, sold for 22.5 millions GBP.


Banksy - Sale Ends Today

The print by Banksy Sale Ends Today was realised for the first time for the famous event Barely Legal, held in a warehouse in Los Angeles in 2006.

This artwork by the British Street Artist was part of a collection titled Barely Legal Print Set and specifically created for the exhibition.

The Barely Legal Set included also the works Morons, Grannies, Festival, Trolleys, Applause.

Sale End was initially printed in an edition of 100 unsigned prints, sold for 500$ each during the event in Los Angeles. In 2007 was then printed an additional signed edition of 150.

The print represents four women prostrated below a sign with the writing: "SALE ENDS TODAY".

Sale Ends Today - Banksy
Sale Ends Today - Banksy

The four characters of the work are reminiscent of female figures from Renaissance paintings, often represented suffering at the foot of the crucifix.

The silhouettes of the women in Sale Ends are realised in black and white with the typical stencil technique, while the big sign above their heads is bright red, with the bold white writing.

The red is used as element of contrast to get the attention of the viewer, exactly like in the shops’ windows, a sort of mass strategy to get people to buy unnecessary goods and incite consumerism.

With his usual biting irony, Banksy underlines the almost religious devotion that our materialist society dedicates to commercial events such as Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day, emphasising this aspect through the expression of grief of the women.

In 2017, it was realised another limited edition of Banksy "Sale Ends Today v.2" where is added also a male figure.


Banksy: Weston-super-Mare

Weston Super Mare is an artwork by Banksy defined by the artist as a happy tribute to British coastal cities, but probably this statement hides a sense of irony as all the things he does.

The edition of Weston Super Mare counts 750 prints, of which 150 are signed by Banksy.

In this work, the British writer represents an old man sitting on a bench on a seafront with his arms crossed on his belly and the walking stick at his side, while a circular saw is approaching from the right.

The man is looking to the left, unconcerned of the danger coming from the opposite site.

This representation can be interpreted in a crude way, which is that danger and death can come from every corner and when you least expect it

Banksy - Weston-super-Mare
Opera di Banksy Weston-super-Mare

On the other hand, it can be read in a more philosophical way, as a reminder to enjoy every moment of our life and to save some time to look at the view that surrounds us.

The work Weston Super Mare is inpired by the seaside city of the same name in the North Somerset, where Banksy opened Dismaland in 2015 with the collaboration of 58 different artists, among which Damien Hirst.


Season's Greeting - Banksy

Season's Greeting is one of the most recent murals created by Banksy and appeares around the 20th of December 2018 on both sides of a garage in Port Talbot, Wales.

The work recalls a typical Christmas image and represents a kid with a little sledge at his side and his arms open under what it seems a snowfall, while he tries to catch the snowflakes with his tongue.

Around the corner the other part of the work, where it is shown that what is falling is not actually snow, but ashes from a burning dumpster.

The message of this work is a critique of the writer about the environmental theme, given the high rate of pollution of these areas caused by the presence of one of the biggest steelworks of Europe owned by the Indian multinational corporation Tata.

Atmospheric pollution is a problem involving the whole planet, causing 7 millions of premature deaths each year, as reported by a Oms’ research.

Season's Greeting - Banksy
Il Murales di Banksy Season's Greeting

Banksy decides to create Season's Greeting after a message of a local resident and ex-employee of the steelwork, very sensible to the health problems that are affecting children because of pollution.

As reply the Street Artist made the works on the garage walls of the sender, certifying the work with a video on his website, where he filmed the mural from every angle, closing with the image of the landscape full of fumy industrial chimneys.

As every work by Banksy, this too has attracted many visitors and, although attentively protected, the usual vandal tried to ruin it, even though he has been stopped by a surveillance team created by local volunteers.

Season's Greeting has been causing numerous inconveniences to the owner with the years, pushing him in the end to sell the work, later acquired by the art collector John Brandler for a sum around 129.000 pounds.

Brandler agreed to leave Banksy mural on view for at least three years in an adequate space of the city.

After having Season's Greeting removed by a company specialised in restoration, the artwork has been shown in a restored ex-police station in Ty'r Orsaf, a space dedicated to Street Art alongside other Banksy works, still from Brandler’s collection.


Barely Legal was one of the first exhibition organised by Banksy, today famous in the artworld for his ironic/satirical style and who had already exhibited some works during the events Turf War and Crude Oils.

The chosen location for the exhibition Barely Legal was a warehouse in Los Angeles industrial area, where the Street Artist located his works for a week-end, opening the show on September 16 2006.

Just like his identity, also the details of Banksy show stayed secret until the day of the opening, and released on the web only the morning of September 16th.

Artists, critics, collectors took part to the event, but also celebrities as actors and singers.

Everyone was shocked at the entrance of the show, since there was an Indian elephant to welcome them.

The 37-year-old animal, Tai, had been entirely painted with the same pattern of the room’s wallpaper and was free to walk around the space.

Referring to the English say of the elephant in the room, Banksy wanted to highlight how society move the real problems of the world to the background, pretending not to see the emergencies as hunger and poverty that afflict some areas of the planet.

During the exhibition ware also distributed flyers with written on: "There is an elephant in the room. Twenty billions of people leave under the poverty threshold."

The choice of the eccentric artist to use an elephant moved several critics among animal activists. Despite the artist had an authorisation to do it, the controversies were many.

In addition to other works, for this exhibition was created a set of artworks made of 6 prints, representing different aspects of modern society through the lenses of Banksy, titled Barely Legal Print Set.

The prints composing the Barely Legal Print Set were:

  • - Morons, which represents an auction where the auctioneer sells a painting saying: "I can't Believe You Morons Buy This Shit".
  • - Grannies, , portraying two grandmas knitting sweaters with the writings "Punks Not Dead" and "Thug For Life".
  • - Trolleys, , representing three cavemen holding arms and about to hunt shopping trolleys.
  • - Applause, which depicts a war jet about to take off from an aircraft carrier flanked by two air-traffic controllers, one of them holding the "Applause" sign.
  • - Sale Ends, , the image of four desperate women bowing at the foot of a sign "Sale Ends Today"
  • - Festival (Destroy Capitalism) represents a group of people in line for a market stand to buy a t-shirt with written on “Destroy Capitalism”.

Dismaland - Banksy - "The Theme Park not for Children"

On the 21st of August 2015 the British artist Banksy draws again the interest of the public with the opening of Dismaland, a theme park that the artist himself defined as not apt for children.

The installation takes place in an abandoned resort called Tropicana in Weston Super Mare, a seaside area in Somerset, and it will be open just for a month until the 27th of September 2015.

In order to keep the halo of mystery so characteristic of the artist and to keep away the curious during the works, it was told that the park was the set of a Hollywood movie.

With Dismaland Banksy creates a parody, a creepier version, of the famous family theme park; “Dismal” as a matter of fact means dark, gloomy.

The price of the ticket was of £ 3, and the maximum number of people allowed in for a day was of 4000.

For this big installation Banksy created ten works, financed the whole project, and invited to participate more than 58 artists, among which Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer and Jimmy Cauty.

At the centre of the park is an intentionally-incomplete castle with a sort of pond in front of it, which looks more like a swamp from where comes out a the barely sketched statue of a Marmaid.

Dismaland - Banksy
Dismaland - Banksy

Many of the attractions could be easily defined as creepy, as the bumper cars, where the car at the centre of the racetrack was driven by the Death.

Another of the works realised by Banksy as social report consisted in small boats that transported refugees to leave them in front of the cliffs.

There was then a version of Cinderella realised by Banksy himself, and who was represented as unconscious inside the carriage destroyed in a crash and surrounded by a group of paparazzi ready to get the picture of it.

The visitors who took part to this event were numerous and so were the number of exhibited works. Even though Dismaland was open only for a month, it attracted more than 150.000 people, bringing 20 millions at the ticket office.


From the Gross Domestic Product to Banksy Online Pop-up Store

On October 1st 2019 Banksy shocks London citizens by opening in the area of Croydon the Gross Domestic Product, a pop-up store that will be “open” for two weeks and sells works by the artist.

The shop of the Street Artist takes form, as all his other works, from nowhere in a night-span, and then announced on Banksy official page.

The Gross Domestic Product replaced an abandoned tapestry shop with five windows, from which was possible to admire the artwork on sale from the outside, since the physical access to the shop was forbidden for the public.

However, it is possible to purchase the works on view through the Online Shop created specifically to sell the pieces and through which it was possible to book the desired work until October 28.

Gross Domestic Product – Banksy shop in London
Gross Domestic Product – Banksy shop in London

By inserting the personal data, it is possible to participate to a lottery that gives the chance to be nominated for the purchase of a work by Banksy.

The objects are hand-made and all realised in Great Britain with recycled materials, therefore the number of the articles on sale is limited compared to the requests.

Being famous for his disinterest towards the incomes, Banksy set some limits to the prices which cannot be overcome, so to give everyone the opportunity to purchase his works. .

The reason that pushed the artist to open such a commercial activity rise from a legal controversy which saw involved the writer and his copyright.

A gadget company wanted to create postcards with Banksy’s images and to use his name, an idea that he disliked.

It exists though, in the European legislation, a law which states that, if a commercial brand is not used for a certain period of time, then another company can take over its copyrights and use them for its own commercial goals.

Banksy then, advised by his lawyers, has decided to reply to the ongoing suit by opening the Gross Domestic Product to defend his art.

Moreover, within the set of the Gross Domestic Product, a detail has caught the eye of the more attentive viewers: inside the fireplace visible from one of the window can be noticed a sign with the same image used by Massive Attack for the cover of their first album in 1991, “Blue Lines”.

As already anticipated, on the day of the opening of the bookings for the artworks of the Gross Domestic Product on the website has been inserted a footer with a link sending to the site Bbay. It seems therefore that Banksy wants to take control over the sale of his works.


Banksy: Prices of the Artworks for Sale.

If you wish to receive Banksy Quotations and Prices of the Artworks for Sale updated to 2019 with the latest auction results, you just need to click on "Show Price" in the page of the product.

Deodato Arte Gallery offers Limited Edition Artworks, Signed by Banksy and/or certified by Pest Control, the official institution for the Authetication of the Street Artist.

For any information about Banksy Artworks for Sale call us at 02/80886294 or send an email to [email protected]