From street to gallery
Banksy is an art world phenomenon, though not a particularly surprising one for a culture obsessed by the so-called authenticity of the streets.
For decades, graffiti artists have flirted with bluechip galleries, while serious collectors and Hollywood A-Listers have made their prices rocket.
Certainly Banksy has his own celebrity following: buyers of his work include Brad Pitt and fellow highprofile artist Damien Hirst. But unlike Basquiat, who wowed the New York art world in the 1980s, Banksy is one notional 'people's artist' who doesn't have critics buying all the hype.
Though his stencilled paintings - at least when chanced upon alfresco on some concrete wall - are very often witty, how excited can one get about the one-line jokes in his mildly agitprop repertoire of 'gangsta rats' and riot cops with yellow smiley faces - especially when you see them in the plush surrounds of a Knightsbridge gallery?
The media has certainly enjoyed the delicious irony of seeing Banksy's works now being sold off by posh dealers Andipa. But Banksy has had no part in it: the works have been acquired on the secondary market.
As ever, Banksy's popularity says more about the art world than it does anything about the work. Who, after all, hasn't seen at least a dozen Andy Warhol rip-off portraits, such as the one of Kate Moss as Marilyn?
Until Mar 29, The Andipa Gallery, 162 Walton Street SW3, Mon to Fri 9.30am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 7589 2371. Tube: South Kensington
Banksy
Andipa Gallery
Walton Street, SW3 2JL
