It might even become art history’s most famous stunt. That the stunt happened during the Frieze Art Fairs, one of the most important art fairs for contemporary art worldwide, has also given it added currency.Īs a case study, the prank has been so successful that it will occupy the art world – as well as academics and students of the art market – for a long time to come. But what needs to be considered here is not only value generation in the art market but ultimately the role and agency of the artist within the market’s resale structure, where artists usually benefit only marginally from the resale of any of their works. Since then, speculation around the value of the shredded piece and Banksy’s role in the art world has led to a lot of hype. So to nobody’s surprise this story has gone viral, cheered on by Banksy’s “official” Instagram feed, where he not only claimed ownership of the prank, but also “documented” its genesis. In our media crazy society, everyone likes a prank – especially when it hits the top end of the art market which excludes all but the very rich. But the moment after the hammer came down a faint alarm went off in the room and, shortly after, in front of a roomful of gawping faces, the canvas slipped out of the frame, being shredded in the process by some concealed machine, before being hurriedly carried away by attendants. Unsurprisingly, bidding was intense and the hammer came down at £860,000, making a final sales price (including buyer’s fees) of £1,042,000 – quadrupling the previous estimate of the work. And the last lot of the sale was Banksy’s 2006 Girl with Balloon, which was last year named in one survey as the UK’s favourite artwork. KAWS’ large yellow comic face, Again and Again, sold for just over £1m, making him – in the words of auctioneer Oliver Barker – the Damien Hirst of the 21st century. That doesn’t mean they are not in high demand. KAWS, the American graffiti artist also known as Brian Donnelly, is seen as too comic Banksy as too “street”. Most people seemed more interested in getting to their post-auction dinners than in the final two lots: paintings by KAWS and Banksy, who are generally perceived to be interesting for new or young buyers but not serious collectors. Serious collectors of contemporary art had already started to leave the room at the Sotheby’s New Bond Street auction house in London last Friday night as a successful evening sale drew to a close.
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