Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Contemporary Artists At Bonhams

Contemporary artworks by a new wave of emerging artists will be offered in The Urban Art sale at Bonhams flagship salerooms in New Bond Street, London on Thursday 23 October 2008 at 7pm. The works are fresh, edgy, politically engaging and challenging. The sale follows the success of the world’s first dedicated Urban Art sale, which took place at Bonhams earlier this year.

urban-art.jpgThe Urban Art sale will focus on a series of artists who are inspired by the aesthetic of the street, with work in mediums that are almost exclusive to this culture, such as stencil spray painting, flyposting and the incorporation of discarded items.

Artists represented in the sale include: Adam Neate, Aiko, Banksy, Blek le Rat, Dan Baldwin, D*Face, Eelus, Faile, Jose Parla, Keith Haring, Jef Aerosol, Matt Small, Paul Insect, Seen and Shepard Fairey. This innovative sale reflects urban art’s transition from an underground subculture to the mainstream.

Urban Art specialist, Gareth Williams says,” Urban Art is an international phenomena and we have created a sale which reflects this with artists representing five continents. This auction is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase some of the most established names in the field alongside a host of exciting and emerging artists who have not yet gained the recognition that they deserve.”
Highlights in the sale include:

Banksy (British, born 1975) ‘Toxic Mary’
stencil spray paint on plywood panels £80,000-120,000

Banksy (British, born 1975) ‘Puppy Love’
marker pen stencil spray paint & acrylic
on canvas £60,000-80,000

Adam Neate (British, born 1977) ‘The Eternal Triangle’, 2007
mixed media on cardboard £35,000 – 45,000

Faile (American, Canadian, Japanese) Berretta, 2005
Acrylic, stencil spray paint and screenprint £25,000-35,000

Antony Micallef (British, born 1975) ‘Girl with Balloons’, 2005
oil, acrylic and charcoal on canvas £20,000 – 30,000

Blek Le Rat (French, born 1952) ‘Man Who Walks Through Walls With a Sheep’, 2007
stencil spraypaint on canvas £8,000 – 12,000

Dan Baldwin (British, born 1972) ‘Politics’, 2004/5
Mixed media on board £6,000 – 8,000

Aiko (Japanese) ‘Bunny Girl’, 2006
stencil spray paint on canvas £2,000 – 3,000

The growth of interest in Urban Art has evolved over the past five years at Bonhams, championed by artists such as Banksy. In April 2007, a spray paint on steel titled ‘Space Girl and Bird’ by Banksy, soared twenty times its estimate to fetch £288,000, creating a new auction world record at the time. A bidding war also broke out for an oil and spray paint on canvas titled ‘Self Portrait’ by Banksy. The price rose to five times its estimate to fetch £198,000 after six telephone bidders battled it out.

In February 2008, interest for works was at fever-pitch throughout the sale with 99% of the work selling to international buyers and collectors. Many works by artists were met with a round of applause during the sale and cheers and more applause continued at the end of the sale. A portrait of the model Kate Moss by Banksy sold for £96,000, more than triple its high estimate of £30,000 and Adam Neate’s works, The Apprentice, painted on cardboard, sold for was sold over estimate to make £43,000. At the time, the sale broke several auction world records for artists such as Guy Denning, Invader, Nick Walker and Blek le Rat.

Auction info www.bonhams.com/urbanart