- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: An unauthorised exhibition of Banksy's work goes on display
- Date: 6th June 2014
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 06, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF S2 GALLERY 'FLYING COPPER' AT WINDOW PAN ACROSS BANKSY EXHIBITION 'BURGER KING KID' 'MONKEY QUEEN' 'TROLLEYS' 'BRONZE RAT' RAT'S FACES (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, SAYING: "I think for him it's probably the last thing in the world he'd ever want to see. It's an unauthorised exhibition - he has nothing to do with it apart from the fact he painted all the paintings of course. For him - I don't know - I think it's interesting to get all the works together. It will probably mean more commercially than it will mean anything else." LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 29, 2014) (REUTERS) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, ENTERING ART SPACE WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHER NOZZLE OF FIRE EXTINGUISHER LAZARIDES SHOOTING PAINT AT WALL WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHER WALL BEING HIT WITH PAINT CLOSE OF LAZARIDES' HAND PANNING TO WIDER SHOT OF LAZARIDES SHOOTING PAINT AT WALL PAINT ON WALLS L ONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 06, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKMEN READYING THE EXHIBITION 'KATE MOSS' PICTURES KATE MOSS PICTURE ON THE FLOOR KATE MOSS' SIGNATURE ON PRINT 'PULP FICTION' (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, SAYING: "Some of these pieces when they were originally sold were 50 to 100 pounds and now some of them are half a million to a million pounds so it would be very interesting to see the difference in people's reactions from when they cost that much to when they cost this much, so we'll see." SOTHEBY'S WORLDWIDE HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHEYENNE WESTPHAL WALKING INTO GALLERY CLOSE UP OF KISSING ON 'KISSING COPPERS' (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S WORLDWIDE HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHEYENNE WESTPHAL, SAYING: "The market has embraced Banksy very quickly and probably in many ways it's quite shocking for him too. There's a print downstairs that says 'You morons, buy this...' and I think there was a shock for him that his prices on the secondary market shot up as they did but the truth is a lot of collectors want to own a piece by Banksy and when you're here in this room, you understand why." 'SUNFLOWERS FROM PETROL STATION' BANKSY'S SIGNATURE 'BARCODE LEOPARD' PAN ACROSS 'BOMBING MIDDLE ENGLAND' (DIPTYCH) 'UFO' (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, SAYING: "It's that thing where it seems to strike a chord with everyone from billionaire art collectors to children and I just think it's got a genuine accessibility to it that really resonates with people. But also he's one of the few artists that ever put - certainly in the past few years - that has put politics in things that people understand." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOTHEBY'S WORLDWIDE HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHEYENNE WESTPHAL, SAYING: "It's fair to say there's no-one like Banksy. When he comes to this day and does an intervention or takes over a town as he's recently done in New York. It's exciting, it's fresh, it's often against the market, it's what he wants to do and it feels very real." TWO BANKSY WORKS 'STOP ME BEFORE I PAINT AGAIN' 'PEST CONTROL - BANKSUS MILITUS VANDALUS' CLOSE OF 'SID VICIOUS - TARGET' TWO BANKSY WORKS 'AVON AND SOMERSET CONSTABULARY' 'THE KEY TO MAKING GREAT ART IS ALL IN THE COMPOSITION' (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, SAYING: "The graffiti scene has already thrown out its own superstars. It's been going from the late sixties so it's already thrown out Basquiat and Keith Haring so this isn't the first time it's happened but it's the first time it's happened in a couple of decades." VARIOUS OF 'STOP ESSO' 'NAPALM (CAN'T BEAT THAT FEELING)' 'GUANTANAMO BAY' (SOUNDBITE) (English) EXHIBITION CURATOR, STEVE LAZARIDES, SAYING: "You know, the whole thing is a huge paradox having works that were never intended for this kind of market. I don't think they were ever made with the intention that they'd be worth in 10 years time what they're worth and I think more than anything it's a validation of the whole scene - not just Banksy's work. When I started this outward (Sic) 15 years ago, him and the other artists were like 'Ah! this is a fad, this is never going to last, no-one is ever going to buy this work' and 15 years later it's here." 'TURF WAR' FEATURING WINSTON CHURCHILL VARIOUS OF 'BALLERINA' BANKSY PICTURES 'KEEP IT REAL'
- Embargoed: 21st June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts
- Reuters ID: LVANUYB4O68TA7U95N89LGVW4EV
- Story Text: Sotheby's auction house in London is hosting over 70 works by renowned yet anonymous street artist, Banksy.
Dubbed 'The Unauthorised Retrospective' and curated by Steve Lazarides, street art promoter and Banksy's former agent, the London show includes sculptures, oils, and prints.
This is not the first unauthorised exhibition and sale of Banksy's work. In April the ME Hotel in London held the 'Stealing Banksy?' exhibition. In response, a message appeared on Banksy's website saying "Banksy would like to make it clear - this show has nothing to do with me and I think it's disgusting people are allowed to go displaying art on walls without getting permission."
Lazarides admitted at the press event on June 6 "I think for him it's probably the last thing in the world he'd ever want to see. It's an unauthorised exhibition - he has nothing to do with it apart from the fact he painted all the paintings of course. For him - I don't know - I think it's interesting to get all the works together. It will probably mean more commercially than it will mean anything else."
Held in Sotheby's S2 gallery space, Lazarides decided to spray paint the gallery walls with red and black paint using a fire extinguisher, "picking the true vandal's weapon of choice" to create a background that fits the work.
Banksy's pieces were still being installed during the preview, including an Andy Warhol-esque group of pictures which features - and signed by - Kate Moss and the classic 'Pulp Fiction' featuring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson carrying bananas instead of guns.
"Some of these pieces when they were originally sold were 50 to 100 pounds and now some of them are half a million to a million pounds so it would be very interesting to see the difference in people's reactions from when they cost that much to when they cost this much, so we'll see," said Lazarides.
Sotheby's first got involved with Banksy when they sold one of his prints back in 2004. Now they are selling off these pieces to collectors at even greater prices.
Sheyenne Westphal, who is the Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby's said "The market has embraced Banksy very quickly and probably in many ways it's quite shocking for him too. There's a print downstairs that says 'You morons, buy this...' and I think there was a shock for him that his prices on the secondary market shot up as they did but the truth is a lot of collectors want to own a piece by Banksy and when you're here in this room, you understand why."
When asked why Banksy had achieved so much appeal, Lazarides replied "It's that thing where it seems to strike a chord with everyone from billionaire art collectors to children and I just think it's got a genuine accessibility to it that really resonates with people. But also he's one of the few artists that ever put - certainly in the past few years - that has put politics in things that people understand."
Westphal added "It's fair to say there's no-one like Banksy. When he comes to this day and does an intervention or takes over a town as he's recently done in New York. It's exciting, it's fresh, it's often against the market, it's what he wants to do and it feels very real."
However, Lazarides was quick to point out that the phenomenon surrounding Banksy isn't anything new, saying "The graffiti scene has already thrown out its own superstars. It's been going from the late sixties so it's already thrown out Basquiat and Keith Haring so this isn't the first time it's happened but it's the first time it's happened in a couple of decades.
The exhibition, which features never before seen works of art, will be open to the public from June 11 through to July 25. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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