Well, it seems Banksy didn't take the weekend off after all. On Saturday, a Banksy pop-up booth appeared in Central Park, as you can see in the video below. "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases," he writes. "For $60 each." And only three people bought pieces!
A woman bought two canvases for her kids (at half price); a woman from New Zealand bought two pieces; and a man from Chicago bought four (because he needed something for his walls). Altogether, Banksy made only $420 from the sale. And if the pieces are verified by Pest Control, they will literally be worth tens of thousands of dollars (we've contacted them to find out if they will do so).
The stall appears to have been on the east side of the bottom of the park toward 59th Street, which might be the same location where he had his portrait taken a few years back. But there's no point going over there today in hope of scoring a Banksy original—he writes that the stall won't be there again today.
The street prank gave Gothamist graffiti guru Jake Dobkin lots to mull over:
Who's the joke about here, though? Is it that Banksy's work kind of sucks, from an empirical point, in that no one would buy it unless they knew who it was by? Or is the joke on everyone for not being smart enough to be there and recognize how valuable the stuff on sale was? As with all Banksy, there's kind of an edge to it that makes you feel a little annoyed—like he's having a joke at your expense.
There are plenty of fake Banksy's on eBay for a lot less than $60, so it's understandable that lots of people passed by without noticing. But this is a good reminder that during this month of wacky Banksy shenanigans and scavenger hunting, you should pay a little closer attention to anything Banksy-related you come across, just in case.
These can easily be resold for $10-20,000 each.
Always buy what you like and you'll never be disappointed.
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