Considering his work goes for thousands of dollars at art galleries, you might expect graffiti artist Banksy to ask for the same outrageous prices if he sold his pieces himself. But Banksy never does what anyone expects. The acclaimed artist set up shop in Central Park Saturday, where he sold his own work for just $60 a piece.
Banksy has been working around New York all month and one of his first pieces was infamously erased. He has been keeping fans up to date on his latest work on Tumblr after he completes it. On Sunday, he revealed that it was his spray art being sold in Central Park Saturday for $60.
The British artist, whose real identity is still unknown, also posted a video of people buying the art, completely unaware that it is 100 percent authentic Banksy work. The shop was open for four hours before anyone bought a single piece. One man buys four pieces just to have something to decorate his walls with. The shop closed at 6 p.m. and Banksy said he only sold $420 worth of art.
As the New York Daily News notes, anyone with a knowledge of Banksy’s work may have recognized some of the images, many of which are repeated in his more famous works. The black-and-white art included images of a rat on a skateboard and a protester throwing flowers.
Banksy said on Tumblr that this was a one time only deal.
image: YouTube