NEW YORK (AP) – Banksy, the British graffiti artist who has been causing a sensation in New York City, says he sold his artwork over the weekend for only $60 apiece.
In a Sunday posting on his website, Banksy wrote that he had set up a stall in Central Park on Saturday with original signed works. But the secretive artist added: “That stall will not be there again today.”
The website features a photo and video of the pop-up stall with a sign that read: “Spray Art. $60.” At one point during the video, a woman asks for — and gets — a 50% discount on two small artworks she bought for her children.
A man visiting from Chicago buys four artworks later on in the video, telling the vendor he is decorating his new house and “just [needs] something for the walls.”
The total take for the day: $420. Banksy’s works typically sell for many thousands of dollars apiece.
On the video, a number of people are seen buying the works and getting hugs from an elderly man working the stall. It is not clear who the man is. Banksy refuses to give his real name.
Banksy has spoken out against the exorbitant sums paid for his art and invites people to download photographs of his work for free from his website.
A free New York show featuring Banksy artworks, called “Better Out Than In,” has whipped up huge excitement in the city. One of the highlights is a slaughterhouse delivery truck stuffed with soft toy animals, which appeared first in Manhattan’s uber-trendy meatpacking district. Called “The Sirens of the Lambs,” the cuddly toy pigs, sheep, chickens and cows are operated by puppeteers and will tour the city for the next two weeks.
A New York delivery truck converted into a mobile garden, featuring a rainbow, waterfall and butterflies, also visits a different place each day at Banksy’s Instagram account has more than 152,000 followers and his @banksyny Twitter account has more than 21,000.
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To view examples of the art offered on Saturday, as well as a video of selling activity at the Central Park stall, click here: http://www.banksy.co.uk/
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Catherine Saunders-Watson, Auction Central News International, and AFP, contributed to this report.
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