Tag Archives: painting

Banksy Painting at Sothebys

Banksy’s most spectacular painting to date is on display at Sotheby’s Bond St, London HQ and beautifully staged it is too.

Devolved Parliament is being auction this week when London opens its galleries, museums and park tents to an international art fair. This painting first appeared in public in 2009 when with staggering panache and secrecy, traditionally mutually exclusive features, Banksy took over the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery for his largest show. The show was brilliant, our fanboy tribute/review appeared on the Graffoto blog here.

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Banksy v Bristol Museum and Art Gallery 2009

This painting was at that time called “Question Time” and it was a nightmare to view and photograph with the lighting and the crowds.

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Banksy Question Time (photo 2009)

This time the lighting is awesome and the staging is superb with it set up to look like the House of Commons benches extend into the room, I am sure there will be lots of selfies coming out of that space this weekend.

Banksy Devolved Parliament (photo 2019)

The painting is being hyped up to set a new Banksy record. The last time the hyperbole reached such feverish levels was exactly year ago in, guess where, Sothebys! It was that infamous Girl With Ballon/Love Is In The Bin shredding stunt. Remind yourself of that moment that made Banksy the best known living contemporary artist at the moment/in history/today (nuff hype).

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“Love Is In The Bin”, Banksy, 2018

This Banksy is identified in Sotheby’s catalogue quite categorically as the one that was exhibited in Bristol in 2009 but there have been a few subtle tweaks. The lights in the chamber have gone out, much like our hopes of a proper orderly outcome to the political farce currently playing out daily in this sceptic isle.

Banksy Devolved Parliament detail (photo 2019)

Also, in 2009 we had a Labour (sort of leftish) Government led by Tony Blair and in the 2009 “Question Time” on the then labour benches which are to the left as you look at those photos, there was a chimpanzee holding a tumescent banana which curved upwards. The catalogue notes that the present owner acquired this painting from the artist in 2011, by which time we had a coalition Conservative/Lib Dem (fairly “right” though nothing like as rightwing as now), Banksy had reworked that banana so that it droops, it curved downwards.

Banksy Question Time detail (photo 2009)

Banksy Devolved Parliament detail (photo 2019)

Just one more thing, the catalogue informs us that the painting comes “from an important private collection” – apart from what it says about Banksy’s direct sales client base, vague bollocks like that truly marks the art world clambering up its own self important fundament!

Viewing:

Sothebys, 34-35 New Bond St, Mayfair, London W1S 2RT

SAT, 28 SEP 19 | 12:00 PM – 05:00 PM BST

SUN, 29 SEP 19 | 12:00 PM – 05:00 PM BST

MON, 30 SEP 19 | 09:00 AM – 05:00 PM BST

TUE, 01 OCT 19 | 09:00 AM – 05:00 PM BST

WED, 02 OCT 19 | 09:00 AM – 05:00 PM BST

THU, 03 OCT 19 | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM BST

Links:

Girl With Balloon/Love Is In The Air review on Graffoto

Banksy v. Bristol Museum and Art gallery, 2009 on Graffoto

Banksy website

All photos: Dave Stuart

Bodies on Shoreditch Streets

Nothing quite beats the excitement of coming across unexpected new street art on the back streets of Shoreditch. On my bicycle this afternoon I was delighted to find what appears to be work by Mila K from Sheffield. Now, I have never seen Mila K’s art in Shoreditch before and only became familiar with this artist’s work on my first ever visit to Sheffield last Summer.

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Mila K

Dotmasters got back to basics hitting Shoreditch and other London areas hard with his Rude Kids stencils last week. I have been finding new examples nearly every day this week and today was no exception, we discovered this little beauty during the morning tour.

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Dotmasters Rude Kids

On the Shoreditch Night Street Art Photography Tour tonight I went into a back yard which I had been in only earlier in the day and found a painting so new in fact the emulsion was still wet. This macabre portraiture is by Corpse, Corpse’s work was first seen in Shoreditch last year and it bore quite a resemblance to Antony Lister’s clown faced super heroes but this looks much more menacing.

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A number of paired paste ups found during the morning tour was an early warning that Corpse is walking the streets of Shoreditch again.

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Corpse paste ups

Multi layer stencillist is exploring political similarities with this juxtaposition of Obama and Kim Jung-On which must be evident to himself if no one else.

street art,installation,painting,mural,Shoreditch, London, artist, Endless, stencil, stencillist, pochoir, multi layer

Obama and Kim Jung On by Endless

This LIchtenstein-esque superhero is tagged Solo, the image itself has been seen on the streets previously by other artists.

street art,installation,painting,mural,Shoreditch, London, artist, Solo

Exciting exciting exciting, keep ’em coming!

2014 – A Great Year For London Street Art

This was a super year for street art in Shoreditch. At about this time of year (You lie!!!! Its usually mid January by the time its finished – ed) Graffoto does a look back over the beauty, the excitement, the highlights and occasionally the sadder moments in the past year of London’s street art.

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Robbo by Adnate

It won’t be spoiling any surprises if we tell you the one picked out as the favourite is Borondo’s upside down face by the canal in Hackney Wick (not in Shoreditch!). The problem with reviewing such a beautiful burst of creativity is what to leave out. Just for fun, here is short slideshow of some of the great pieces which appeared this year and what they all have in common is that Shoreditch Street Art Tour groups came across the artist(s) creating these.

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Pop over to Graffoto for a broader summary, a different collection of wonderful art and a few thoughts.

all photos: NoLionsInEngland

Street Artist Roa – New Show In London

Roa’s new installation based show opened at Stolen Space Gallery last night and is just as dark and rough and briliant as you’d hope for from this star.

Virtually all of the images here look like ROA could just as easily have painted these on the streets as indoors in a gallery and it has been a while since there was a show that managed that trick.

For a full appreciation and lots more pictures head over to my personal blog here

Kick-Ass 2 Fans Get Creative In Shoreditch, London

No two days are the same with Shoreditch Street Art Tours thanks to the ever changing art panorama in Shoreditch. Last Saturday one of the things we decided to do on a whim was visit the famous Rockwell House rooftop where Jim Vision and Mattie were hosting a live Kick Ass 2 comic canv-ass event.

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Kick-Ass 2 on Rockwell House Roof

Several of our guests got stuck right in with spray cans and marker pens and feature in this great film which shows how Rockwell House really captured the spirit of Kick Ass with their fun event.

Amusingly (for me) it is apparent from the film that on Saturday I chatted with someone whose name I didn’t get but turns out to be someone I have been a fan of for years…Dr Zadok, wow, Kick ASS!!!