Bonhams To Sell Bansky Poster For Greenpeace

Written by Leonora Oldfield Sunday, 31 July 2011 21:49

London -  An original art work by the legendary street artist, Banksy, for a Greenpeace Save or Delete campaign photographic poster, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its Urban Art sale on 11 January 2011. Estimated at £60,000 - 80,000, the unique piece was given to the vendor by the artist himself. The image, which features some of the main characters from Disney’s The Jungle Book transposed onto a picture of a devastated forest, was intended for use on posters, billboards and postcards. The previously unseen work shows a masked axe-man preparing to execute Shere Khan, Mowgli, Baloo the Bear, King Louie and baby elephant Hathi Junior, all of whom are blindfolded with their arms tied. King Louie, however, seems more concerned about undoing a banana with his feet. While it was printed, it was never put into circulation because of the protectionist policies at Disney. A version of this poster is illustrated in Banksy’s Wall and Piece book. 'Banksy created it with acrylic and marker pen on card and the characters were on a pink background.

Banksy is the pseudonym of a British graffiti artist, political activist and painter, whose identity is unconfirmed. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humor with graffiti done in a distinctive stenciling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.

Banksy's work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Known for his contempt for the government in labeling graffiti as vandalism merely because it does not serve a profit to them, Banksy displays his art on public surfaces such as walls and even going as far as to build physical prop pieces. Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti directly himself; however, art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder.

Gareth Williams, an urban art expert from Bonhams who are selling it in London next month, said that “when people are looking at buying a Banksy, provenance is important and this is very good. This is a unique and large work which is typical of Banksy, because it has a political message with a touch of humor. He is really an anti-commercial artist and I'm aware of him only doing one private commission - from the band Blur - although he has done works for charitie's.'

Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace. The Banksy’s poster was going to part of campaign against global deforestation.

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