Banksy Sold Valuable Art For Pennies On The Dollar Because New Age Art Doesn’t Make Sense
12 years ago

Banksy, the world famous graffiti artist who works in anonymity, baffled the general public on Wednesday after announcing that dozens of authentic pieces were on sale in New York City for only sixty dollars.

“Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100 per cent authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each,” he wrote. “Please note: This was a one off. The stall will not be there again today.”

The cart, now valued at over a million dollars, was operated by an anonymous old man who struggled for hours to make a sale. By the end of the experiment, only three people had purchased pieces. One of those customers even haggled with the him before buying a canvas at a discounted price.

His first customer was a woman who bought two small canvases for her children – but only after haggling him down to a half-price discount.

So, why did Banksy do this? It seems like he is so disconnected or disgusted by mainstream culture that he is attempting to point out its flaws. But at the same time, it is those flaws that have made him successful. In reality, nobody understands art. People buy it for the name that signs the piece. I could spill paint on a canvas and it would be worth garbage, but Banksy could do the same thing and it would leave thousands of people awestruck. It’s confusing. I think I’ll just stick to football.

Look at all those suckers ignoring the cart. They are walking away from millions!

[via The Age, Better Out Than In]

Image via YouTube

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  3. neworleansfrat

    Its fine when he does it, but when I set up a booth selling my “spray art,” I get arrested for indecent exposure.

    12 years ago at 10:26 am
  5. Fratterhorn

    I like a lot of the messages behind Banksys work, but even he knows it’s nothing special. He set this up knowing no one would buy spray paint on canvas. He has said himself before, “I can’t believe you people buy this shit”. He is a simple stencil artist that has made the world his canvas. The reason people value his art is because he keeps it on the street and hasn’t “sold out” by selling his work in galleries or online. It wouldn’t be worth anything if he did.

    12 years ago at 10:32 am