Notes
Banksy is less of an artist than a global phenomenon. He’s an anonymous graffiti superhero whose identity is endlessly debated by armchair conspiracy theorists; a political gadfly, weighing in on everything from the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to Brexit; and pure art-market gold, with recent work selling at auction for upwards of $1 million.
“He speaks for a generation,” said Luiza Gibb, founder of Flat Space Art, who is intrigued by the way Banksy—once a sort of creative outlaw—has now been fully embraced by the straightlaced establishment. “As with everything in the art world, counterculture eventually becomes mainstream,” she said. But such populism isn’t always a bad thing.
Banksy’s career has been marked by experimentation, risk, and a daring playfulness. His stencil-heavy motifs—of rats, cops, and kids with balloons—have simply become part of a shared cultural vocabulary, reproduced (and ripped off) with abandon. While it’s exceedingly difficult to narrow down a handful of works that define his aesthetic, we present below a selection of six projects that capture the artist’s hugely influential practice.
Donuts first appeared on a canvas in 2009 in the pink colourway – often called the ‘strawberry’ version, in reference to the pink icing covering the donut. Unlike most of Banksy’s works, Donuts was never painted in the street. Soon after the canvas was released, 299 signed Strawberry Donuts screenprints and 299 signed Chocolate Donuts version were released. The number of prints released – 299 for each flavour – is said to be a reference to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ financial troubles in 2007, when it closed down 299 stores.
Disclaimer - Any frames and furniture incorporated within the sales images are not included in the sale.
