Urban Art Association

there's this thread slammer;
banksyforum.proboards82.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=17712

sounds like you all had an excellent time of it, shame i couldnt have joined the party

slammer, do you have any idea how much the VANDALISM canvases were, especially the white on black? love em

if it helps. the boy with the tent + his girlfriend.

£7.5k edition of 10

Incorrect. Im pretty sure they were £3500

s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158....nt=64fa2a75.pbw

there's some pics of the vandal canvas on here

sorry guys, £3750 or £7.5k the pair

Ive just got to my parents, first thing my Mum said "bloody hell, all that moaning that you were cold, and you still manage to catch the sun on your face"

I blame standing over the fire all night.

Back on topic, I thought the collection of work was outstanding, this vandal/morning after series has really hit the spot for me, so many quality pieces. To pick my favourate piece would be tough . Ive always been blown away by 'lifes to short' (i pass the street version of this almost daily, its beautiful) so the huge original of this had my attention for a long time, the collages also looked great.
Though as I walked back to the coach station, one piece had me grinning like a madman, that was the 'lifes too short' print I cant wait to get this on my wall its awsome.

Thanks to Brp another great show, well orginised and in general 'bloody nice people'
Thanks to Nick for the coffee and for what my eyes saw yesterday.

Banksy's Rival Nick Walker Sells 750,000 Pounds of Street Art April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Nick Walker, an old spray-mate of fellow British street artist Banksy, sold 750,000 pounds ($1.5 million) of paintings and prints this week at the start of his first one-man show in the U.K., the gallery said yesterday.

All but two of 60 original Walker works on offer, many featuring his anarchical alter ego, ``The Bowler-Hatted Vandal,'' found buyers within hours at the Black Rat Gallery in Shoreditch, east London, gallery director Mike Snelle said in an interview. Prices at the exhibition, which started with a private view on April 17, ranged between 2,000 pounds and 35,000 pounds.

``I'm proper pleased,'' said Walker in a telephone interview. ``I couldn't believe anything like this could have happened.'' Walker, 39, said demand for his work had gone ``pretty crazy'' after Bonhams's Urban Art auction in London in February. At that sale, his 2006 spray-paint-on-canvas ``Moona Lisa,'' showing La Giaconda exposing her bottom, sold for a record 54,000 pounds with fees, more than 10 times the upper estimate.

Walker said that he had got know Banksy in Bristol, western England, in the late 1990s when he was invited to be part of the ``Walls on Fire'' group of graffiti artists.

``We don't talk too much now,'' he said.

Sold in Seconds

Two new Walker prints were issued online in editions of 150, priced at 450 pounds each. These sold out within seconds, said Snelle. The complete edition of a third new print, titled ``Life's 2 Short,'' priced at 750 pounds, was reserved for the first 75 people in the line. Some people were photographed with numbered certificates to ensure they didn't sell their place.

``We had at least 60 people camping out the night before to make sure they were at the front,'' said Snelle. ``For a lot of people it's all about being part of a memorable experience. It's a bit like going to Glastonbury.''

Dale Clark, a property developer from Hoxton, east London, queued through the night to buy one of the prints and a 4,500- pound painting.

``This was the first art show I've been to,'' Clark said in an interview. ``It was manic. There were people everywhere, red dots everywhere. This kind of art is all about impulse and passion.''

For some it's also about trying to make a quick profit. At least half a dozen ``Life's 2 Short'' prints were being ``flipped'' on EBay Inc's Web site priced up to 13,000 pounds. At the time of writing, the prints had bids of up to 2,272.22 pounds and none had been sold.

Snelle said that more than 500 people had crowded into the gallery for the private view. More than 20 of them had flown from the U.S. especially for the show, he said.

Laser Beams

``People now realize that there's more to street art than just Banksy,'' said Snelle, who earlier in the week had laser- beamed Walker images on Big Ben and the Bank of England to promote the show.

Other street art aficionados remain to be convinced that Walker is the new Banksy.

``The incredible price tags were shocking when held up against the rather simplistic subject matter of the work,'' said a user called Danvnuk on the street art discussion site, banksyforum. ``It isn't challenging, there's no depth, but compared to someone like Banksy whose work always contains some wry observation, or poking fun at the human condition, it left me quite underwhelmed.''

The auction record for Banksy is the $1.9 million paid for the 2007 painting ``Keep it Spotless'' at Sotheby's ``Red'' charity sale in New York in February, according to the saleroom result tracker Artnet.

The show runs though May 3. For information: click on www.blackratpress.co.uk/ or telephone +44-207-613-7200.

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are his own.)

Last Updated: April 18, 2008 19:00 EDT

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Come on then, what was he saying?

The other comedy moment was - a young chap with a mouth the size of the mersey tunnel was speaking to Sohoria. He was saying what a huge fan of Nick Walker he was etc etc etc. This is in the very early hours of the morning, anyway their conversation was interrupted when this chap walks out from the gallery and in to the streets and past the queue.

Our 'fan' of NW sees the chap and asks if he's had a good night (I think we all assumed he knew who he was talking to) anyway, he asks if he's had a good night & what have you been up to?

NW replies 'oh you know, I do art',
'art? oh you do art? 'how long you been doing that then'?? came the reply to the complete bemusement of NW

the look on NW face was 24 carat gold, anyway, to his credit NW just went merrily on his way & didn't come out with 'don't u know who i am' lol.

Said hi couple of times and NW comes across as a very likeable chap - the 1st time he saw the queue he was in total shock. Must be awesome to think people queuing were there to appreciate their love of art and of NW's work.

Still buzzing from - had an awesome awesome time :-)

But, as someone pointed out the other day... he may be a huge fan of Nick's and not know what he looks like. How many artists on here would you recognise if they walked past you in the street?

Mike, this really was a case of having to be there to understand the situation. The young guy was with a group of people of buying prints, who were paid to queue.

Those that saw this are confident in saying he was not a fan of Nick or his work, more so a fan of $$$$

Killer each to his own and all that...


Personally speaking having had 4 heart operations while only just into my 30's, when i first saw the street piece on flickr.I said to some well known people in the game, that should that ever become a print i must have one.

For me the message in 'Life's Too Short' speaks very loudly, at the risk of sounding cringeworthy it maybe inspired me to chase my dreams as life really IS too short

That's jmo, and understand art is totally subjective