BANKSY: SWAT Van,- BONHAMS

BANKSY: SWAT Van, 2006. Sold for £218,500; 

Estimated: £200,000-300,000

 

Banksy’s SWAT van (est £200,000-300,000) has remained shrouded in mystery since September 2006, and has since been verified by the Pest Control Office, Banksy’s authorisation service. It was shown for the first - and only time - in an industrial warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, when the anonymous figure from Bristol, England, made his American debut with a solo exhibition. The true centrepiece was the SWAT van, spray painted in Banksy’s irreverent, insouciant style, combining vicious black humour with his anti-establishment message. The painting depicts heavily armed Special Forces agents being hoodwinked by a small boy. Banksy, who has tussled with the police throughout his career, once said “My main problem with cops is that they do what they're told,” he said. “They say 'Sorry mate, I'm just doing my job' all the f***king time.” Banksy’s characteristic stencilling technique, artfully employed on the SWAT van, was inspired by an incident: while the artist was hiding from the police under a rubbish lorry, he noticed the stencilled serial number. Stencilling has since allowed him to carry out complicated graffiti pieces extremely quickly, before he melts away into the night.

SOURCE : BONHAMS