Urban Art Association

Hello me ol' matey,

Yeah I shall be going for the same frame as my other Micallef's... a really thick 3" white box frame... I WOuld hope it will make the colours shine out just that little bit more. Have you seen my others framed? If not I'll try and fnd the pics in the Peoples Gallery...

Can't wait to see the final result!!

hehehe Tom I have to have a little clear out to be able to afford it though SHame I missed the BG but I do like this one, the detail in the centre is lovely I just hope the next Banksy aint out in the next week as I'll just cry watching you snap them up... no prints for me for a while

How you been matey?

And me !

21 CL, DD and WCIP matey... a bit of a splurge!

Indeed matey... need to fund those bad boys! ;D

which one are you selling mate?

Cheers (too lazy to look )

I do indeed mate... still hoping my invite...

Fingers crossed for an arrival in the next day or so then!

PM sent!

What?

I thought your pit was bottomless ;D

Well nice knowing you mike, guess we won't be hearing about your purchases as much from you for at least a day....

What am i doing here at 5.20am?

Maybe looking for some biscuit chat....

Reebok (Fox's) Classics and a mug of tea anyone?

Quite.

I was considering whilst on a fag break at work today;

What if Micallef didn't have an LA show with Laz?

Would this be the usual panic buying before any show of any of the big art houses in this scene, that turned sour?

Maybe not but just thought I'd throw it out there.

Don't know why I suggested that cus I love micallef and have 4 prints (21CL, HFUNG, MWIH, BG) but just wanted people to realise all the hype that gets thrown up at every event now, and what used to seem alot to people 6 months ago, now everyone is pouring all their money in.


Whats my point?

No idea now.
I should just get to my scratcher....

I agree with part of what you say, but think of it this way.

As soon as the Micallef prints were listed on Laz I wanted them. I assumed I was going to be able to buy whichever I liked... and remember that the "Girl in Red Dress" was supposed to be the print for sale @ £1250 not these other three.

Anyway, I logged on to the Laz site and was blown away with the prints, I loved them! Pulled out my credit card and then thought "FCUK!!! £4750!!" you must be joking Mr Lazarides!

Now, not being able to "Justify" (rather then afford) the new prints I put my card away and thought, "well, I'll never own one of those".

The reason alot of people (myself included) felt this way was because, at the time, you could have bought 2 signed Banksy prints for that... imagine getting a Signed Laugh Now & a Grin Reaper for the same price as one Micallef print.

That is entirely why the prints didn't sell out immediatey... they were twice as expensive as Signed Banksy's and 3 times the price of the other Micallef's from Eyestoem.

However, the prints have sold out now, not just as a result of "Investment" as it has been mentioned... but as all the other Micallef's and Signed Banksy's started rising in price... Signed Banksy prints more than doubled in a 2 month period (during Andipa Show).... Micallef's work exploded 3 fold in the period of a month.

Now you are left with Banksy's Signed work costing a minimum of £5k and Micallef's best pieces being worth £4.5k+.

All of a sudden the Laz pieces are priced "correctly" for the current market. This makes the justification of buying one all the easier.

The Laz prints haven't got any better and the money for them hasn't changed but they are now in line with all the other prints, thus making them an easier choice when deciding what to buy.

I really don't buy this idea that people have bought just for investment... as if that's all people like Mike and I were interested in, then we would have spent the same £4750 in January (when the laz prints came out) on two signed Banksy's and we would now be selling them for £10k+ and buying two Mic's from Laz for £10k on the gamble we would squeeze these for more profit?

That just isn't the case... The prints have always been gorgeous but a little more expensive than other equally gorgeous prints from our Favourite two artists.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. How I managed to ramble that mush at 8am I will never know>!!

What are your feelings party people ?

Hi Les,

I'm not trying to question any particular member's motives here. My bet is that we will see some of these on Ebay around the time of the Micallef show but I'm sure most people on this board are going to frame their LAZ Micallef prints and love them. I myself bought a BomberGirl back in January when everyone said the prices were outrageous (because I love the image). My comment was on why they sat for many months and then sold in days. There were at least 3 threads here in the last week where people were saying things like "buy now before the show" and "just do it, you won't regret it". But I don't remember anyone actually talking very much about the art itself in those threads, and that is why I said that it was about money. As a basis for comparison, I remember back when these prints case out, a member saying how he bought a MW because he always liked the Greek story of the Minotaur, etc. Back in January, I think you really had to like the art to dive in and buy it because it cost so much more than other pieces, just like you say above.

And when you say:

"The Laz prints haven't got any better and the money for them hasn't changed but they are now in line with all the other prints, thus making them an easier choice when deciding what to buy. "

That is exactly why I said this was more about money and not art. You just gave an economic justification for getting a print that hasn't changed since January, with perhaps the exception that the number available was in question.

But when you are talking about spending 4700k there is nothing wrong with that. After all, they are still great prints and would have sold out no matter what. I'm sure a lot of people needed to be comfortable with the price before diving in. I guess this is where the psychology of buying a print at this price comes in to play. Art is both an economic and emotional investment.