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During Banksy's NYC residence, the media covered how works like his Allen Street stencil, were quickly vandalized, and painted over.[/caption]
Banksy, the never-seen, but always visible British street artist is, if I can be blunt, a frikkin' genius. And I'm not talking about his stencil art, which is clever indeed. No, I'm talking about his business model. A graffiti artist's work is never done -- others will inevitable tag and embellish it over time. Street art is always at risk of being defaced, and erased. Banksy has clearly turned this to his advantage, and harnessed it to help drive the value of his original stencils.
His recent, month-long, residence in New York City saw him painting the town red, as it were, and waiting -- often not very long -- for the city to paint over many of his celebrated stencil pieces. Far from being annoyed when a building manager, or the city's ant-graffiti squad, painted over one of his stencils, he was probably laughing -- all the way to the bank. Scarcity drives up the value of a popular artist's work, and Banksy is not only popular, but he controls the perception of his works' scarcity, and the way he does it, using the street, and the media, is a work of art in itself.
[caption id="attachment_6804" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Another Banksy NYC piece covered in the media after being... covered.[/caption]
During Banksy's NYC residence, the media covered how works like his Allen Street stencil, were quickly vandalized, and painted over.[/caption]Banksy, the never-seen, but always visible British street artist is, if I can be blunt, a frikkin' genius. And I'm not talking about his stencil art, which is clever indeed. No, I'm talking about his business model. A graffiti artist's work is never done -- others will inevitable tag and embellish it over time. Street art is always at risk of being defaced, and erased. Banksy has clearly turned this to his advantage, and harnessed it to help drive the value of his original stencils.
His recent, month-long, residence in New York City saw him painting the town red, as it were, and waiting -- often not very long -- for the city to paint over many of his celebrated stencil pieces. Far from being annoyed when a building manager, or the city's ant-graffiti squad, painted over one of his stencils, he was probably laughing -- all the way to the bank. Scarcity drives up the value of a popular artist's work, and Banksy is not only popular, but he controls the perception of his works' scarcity, and the way he does it, using the street, and the media, is a work of art in itself.
[caption id="attachment_6804" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Another Banksy NYC piece covered in the media after being... covered.[/caption]Banksy takes Manhattan ►
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[…] understand what it’s saying. When I think about it though, that’s what British street artist Banksy has been proving for […]