Channel 888 Mike, Ocean Finance

your just trying to wind people up right?

£800 for a piece of paper.

i would love to have one of these. dont think its gonna happen though.

the st giles one is 136 cm !!!

Yes no question it's for all when street art is exactly that - art on the street. But when art in that style - call it street art/urban art - moves into galleries in the form of pieces for people to collect and own which only their family and friends will see, then it's quite blatantly not for all. Why do limited edition print runs even exist if the art is for all? Or try this - why are Banksy prints no longer £50 and in runs of 600 (which would certainly satisfy a laudable aim of accessibility on both counts) since even the current £350/£400 is (hopefully!) considered a reasonably chunky outlay however fat your wallet.

I also think that there are plenty people out there who love to see art on street walls and will happily chat about it but at the same time would ordinarily think other people are crackers to pay hundreds of pounds for a paper replica of the same image. But that's where the hype machine kicks in - call me cynical but a lot of people who could otherwise take or leave this type of art find stories of easy profit very hard to resist.

At least we manage to agree that there is no problem in releasing these Parla's at market value (assuming of course they remain at that value after the initial release).

And I also think your point about differences in markets for Banksy and Parla is a good one. If you wandered out into the street and took a straw poll, most people wouldn't have even heard of Jose Parla. But I'm pretty sure name recognition of Banksy would be a different proposition - and I think that's because the level of interest in him (helped along by partly by famous street pieces which reach a bigger audience, partly by anonymity but also partly by hype) goes well beyond the relatively small urban/street art world.

But don't stop now nex - I'm enjoying this ;D

Bit harsh but tend to agree.....do you have any idea what avearge wage is? If you've got that and a mortgage and a bit of income support and two kids then you're probably counting the pennies, if you've got minimum wage and the above then you're struggling BIG time, robbing Peter to pay Paul and it must be fucking tough.

If you live in London on average wage (£46K) and have a (possibly) bigger mortgage than average, with cost of livingg being that much higher then you probably still aren't rolling in it.

If you're single, live at home on £30K a year with Mum doing your ironing you might never be so liquid again, so enjoy it.

These sacrifices you speak of to get a Parla print on the wall, that would be a family holiday, or new stuff for your kids?