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Fragile Silence
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photo : Albanpix
Daily Mail : Trailer worth £1,000 goes on sale for £500,000
01st June 2008
They have been chipped out of walls by thieves and scrubbed off by zealous cleaners.
Now a work by the mysterious street artist Banksy could be driven away – for an estimated £500,000.
The design, on the side of a lorry trailer – which doubles as a family home for the current owners – is due to sell at auction.
Called Fragile Silence, it shows commandos landing stereo equipment on a beach.
The trailer’s owners, Maeve Neal and Nathan Welland, say Banksy has authenticated the work, which he completed before they drove the truck to the Glastonbury Festival in 1998.
And instead of them paying him, he gave them two free festival tickets for providing the ‘canvas.’
At the time Banksy, whose real name has never been confirmed, was little known. But since then he has gathered a celebrity fan base including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Ms Neal, 34, explained: ‘We have known Banksy for more than 12 years. He heard that we were travelling down to Glastonbury and asked if we would give over the sides of the truck as a work space. He wanted a large white canvas.’
The couple, based in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, make their living supplying circus tents but now hope the sale will allow them to buy a conventional home for their four children.
Ms Neal is resigned to losing the two-bedroom, refrigerated trailer, bought 11 years ago for £1,000. She said: ‘We had our fourth child, Neo, five months ago and the lorry is becoming a bit of a squeeze.
‘We’ve been travelling around the country for ten years providing festivals with tents. We’ve seen the price of Banksy’s work go up and up and we hope his generosity
can help us build our new home.
‘Banksy is a little mysterious but the man we know is someone who is really giving.’
The sale is being handled by Norfolk art dealer William Burroughs, who said: ‘The work is genuine.’
Last year, Banksy’s painting, Space Girl And Bird, sold for £288,000 and in January a wall displaying his work in Notting Hill, West London, fetched £208,000 online.
photo : BBC Norfolk
photo : Jockohomo
Rather than sell the trailer intact, it is being dismantled into pieces. Panels from the trailer's back and side doors are already boxed in perspex and on display until later this month at a gallery that was reportedly in Norfolk. After a good deal of digging, I located it in Birmingham at Number nine the gallery. Banksy's work arrived there with its owner on Tuesday 08/04/08.
Number nine the gallery
9 Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2JA, England.
Opening hours : Tues-Sat 11am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm, (closed Monday).
phone: +44(0)121 643 9099 or fax: +44(0)121 643 9199
Banksy Comes to Birmingham
Article in the Birmingham Mail, 11 April 2008
BBC article
BBC VIDEO : Trailer a Banksy treasure
photo : Number nine the gallery
photo : Number nine the gallery
photo : Number nine the gallery
SID 100% ~ £ 352 500.00
photo : Number nine the gallery
GRENADEDRUMS ~ £ 117 500.00
EDP24 : Banksy's Norfolk hippy art work
03 June 2008
He was their mate, so he only charged them a couple of Glastonbury tickets for painting the old lorry they'd bought for £1,000 to travel to festivals.
Now the decorated trailer in which they enjoyed the alternative lifestyle in a quiet corner of Norfolk is expected to make £500,000 at auction, after it emerged it was painted by the mystery graffiti artist Banksy.
Before he became famous Banksy - whose real identity has never been revealed - began a mural on the side of the 10m artic owned by Nathan Wellard and Maeve Neale.
The couple, who toured festivals supplying circus tents, agreed to let him use the sides of their home as a giant canvas.
In 1998 the then unknown Banksy painted Fragile Silence, which shows commandos landing a sound system on a beach, when he met Mr Wellard and Ms Neale en route to Glastonbury.
He added to his work when their paths crossed at later festivals, and more recently during visits to Norfolk, after the couple settled at Northwold, near Downham Market.
With four young children, Mr Wellard and Ms Neale have outgrown their slightly unusual mobile home. So they are now dismantling it ready to be sold off in pieces, which they expect will raise more than enough to buy a more conventional abode.
The sale is being handled by art dealer William Burroughs, who was yesterday fielding calls on the couple's behalf.
“It's all about a different lifestyle, a similar lifestyle to Banksy,” he said. “It's about art and graffiti, people who live in an alternative society. It's about bringing these pieces to market, they've been in Norfolk for a long time.
“They were driving around the country in it from 1998 to 2004, it was a working vehicle. These Banksys were like a travelling exhibition, they went to Scotland, they went to Guernsey, they were always on the move.
“Banksy painted it over a number of years, first in 1998 at Glastonbury, then he painted the other side in 1999 at the Lizard Festival, in Cornwall. Then he was in Norfolk for one or two events, which was the last time he worked on it.
“Each time he worked on it, he asked Maeve and Nathan if it was OK for him to paint the truck. It's an incredible work of art, what a conversation piece.”
Earlier, Mr Wellard said: “He was a little-known graffiti artist at the time and he was doing it as a live graffiti show. On the first day, there were just a few squiggly lines, you couldn't make out what it was.
“I had every intention of painting over it if I didn't like it, but I love it.”
Panels from the rear of the trailer have already gone on display in a gallery in Birmingham, priced upwards of £100,000.
Earlier this year, a wall displaying a Banksy painting sold for more than £200,000. The reclusive artist - who is believed to be from Bristol - began by stencilling graffiti on buildings in the city.
His works usually carry a strong anti-war or anti-establishment message and while some sell for six figure sums, others have been destroyed by council anti-graffiti squads and Transport for London, which painted over a mural at a London tube station inspired by the Tarrantino film Pulp Fiction.
While Banksy's art is usually highly public, his visits to Norfolk were hitherto not widely known. Art lovers must now be wondering what other pieces lie out there undiscovered. Goatgirl still has the best pictures I've seen of Fragile Silence. Says she:
Took this with a disposable camera at an eclipse festival in Cornwall in 1999, it's the first time I came across Banksy. It says:
"IT'S BETTER NOT TO RELY TOO MUCH ON SILENT MAJORITIES
…FOR SILENCE IS A FRAGILE THING…
ONE LOUD NOISE AND IT'S GONE"
photo : goatgirl
photo : goatgirl
photo : goatgirl
photo : goatgirl
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Originally posted at 10:45PM, 31 May 2008 PDT
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melfeasance edited this topic 48 months ago.
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After revisiting goatgirl's photos and seeing the closeups, I'm disappointed in the way the artwork has been chopped up. Butchered. I can empathize with the owners' need to provide for their children -- the quality of their lives is rather more important than what is afterall an art relic -- still and all. Extreme pity.
Perhaps gives new meaning to this.
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Originally posted 48 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 48 months ago.
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Banksy Originals
For Sale by Auction 28th June 2008
Border Auctions are please to announce the inclusion of 2 original pieces of art by the artist known as Banksy
Two works known as 'Drums/Grenade' and 'Sid Vicious 100% Punk Rock'. Originally painted onto the outside of an 'Overlander' semi-trailer. A friend of the owners, Banksy asked for permission on at least four occasions to use the vehicle as a canvas.
Both 'Drums/Grenade' and 'Sid Vicious-100% Punk rock' were created using spray cans by Banksy at the Lizard Festival in Cornwall , 1999, part of the celebrations surrounding the full eclipse of the sun. Part of a larger work covering one complete side of the semi trailer, 'Drums/Grenade' itself is, in fact, an original door from the vehicle, 'Sid vicious-100% Punk Rock' an adjacent vehicle section.
Quite different from his urban works which are often created at night, these works were created very much in the midst of a festival and can be viewed as examples of performance art by the artist.
The complete, original composition created in 1999 occupied one side of the semi-trailer and contained the two works to be auctioned ,(which along with another section not for auction at the moment) , was given the title 'Fungle Junk'. 'Fungle Junk' was originally a composition depicting two monkeys performing on stage; one playing drums, the other playing keyboards, both flanked by banks of speakers.
These three sections were separated from the original semi-trailer when it was joined onto another similar vehicle to create a large , mostly open plan , caravan-type space where the family live today. (The original semi-trailer was used by its owners from 1995-2004 for transporting circus big tops to various events.)
In 2000 , at the Glastonbury Festival, Banksy over painted the work known as 'Sid Vicious-100% Punk rock' turning the monkey playing keyboards into a piglet , also adding a stencil work of Sid Vicious and the legend 100% punk rock.
Banksy first used this vehicle as a 'canvas' in 1998 when he painted one complete side with Graffiti artist Inkie at the Glastonbury Festival This work took three days to complete and measures 2.4 metres by 9.95 metres. This work , known as 'Silent majority' is not for auction at the moment, but could easily be the single largest work by Banksy .
These works are painted on to plywood which forms an insulated wall with a similar sheet of ply.
'Drums/Grenade' measures 1.86 metres by 0.76 metres and is 7cm thick.
'Sid Vicious-100% Punk Rock measures 2 metres by 1.7 metres and again 7cm thick.
Both works have been placed into perspex boxes, to Museum standard, for safe keeping. They are 'weathered' and show signs of use due to the fact that this was a working vehicle on the road from 1998 - 2004.
These early, unknown examples of work by Banksy are unique studies from his remarkable career and will not often come to auction.
Photographs of the semi-trailer at various festivals can be found on pages 21 and 73 of the book "Banksy's Bristol, HOME SWEET HOME The unofficial guide", by Steve Wright. Published 2007 by Tangent Books of Bristol.
"Drums/Grenade"
PROVENANCE:
Nathen Wellard and Emma Neale.
Gratefully acknowledged by Banksy
From Overlander semi-trailer as canvas
Lizard Festival 1999
"Sid Vicious-100% Punk Rock"
PROVENANCE:
Nathen Wellard and Emma Neale.
Gratefully acknowledged by Banksy
From Overlander semi-trailer as canvas
Lizard Festival 1999 and Glastonbury Festival 2000
Originally posted 48 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 48 months ago.
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Come come, where are all the spot-light hungry celebs and beautiful benefactories to save the day? George Michael-- how bouta piece a this? (WE will reveal ourselves to you.) Kate Moss-- instead of your very own taxi, you could tool around town in an art trailer! Angelina and Brad-- something to cart all the kiddies at once! Or any old deep-pocketed do-gooder out there -- buy the whole trailer intact for chri'sake -- along with Mystic Swing (also on the block), Pink Triumph (to rescue it from it's crypt), Zebra Car (eBay), the police van from Barely Legal, all the fab new vehicles from the Cans Festival -- turn the lot of them into carnival rides, somewhere just outside of Bristol and, man, have you got yourself a theme park --- Banksyland!
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Originally posted 48 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 48 months ago.
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edp24 : Banksy trailer art makes a fortune
29 June 2008
Two pieces of graffiti painted on the side of a trailer owned by a Norfolk couple have fetched almost £100,000 at an auction in Scotland.
Staff at Border Auctions, in Hawick, said the work was believed to have been created by mystery graffiti artist Banksy at various music festivals in the late 1990s.
One piece called Drums/Grenade fetched £38,000 at Saturday's sale while a second, called Sid Vicious 100% PunkRock, went for £58,000.
The artwork was cut from a 10m wooden trailer owned by Nathan Wellard and Emma Neale, from Northwold near Downham Market, who befriended the then unknown artist as they toured music festivals supplying circus tents.
Banksy, whose real identity has never been revealed, is renowned for painting politically-charged murals on city buildings but auctioneers said the festival-inspired works were a rare find.
An auction house spokesman said: “These early examples of his work are quite different from the more well-known urban, stencil work often created at night.
“The concept of performance art by Banksy is virtually unknown to the media and general public alike and these works are probably some of the first to come to auction.”
Border Auctions' director Maurice Manning said both pieces had been bought by anonymous telephone buyers.
The EDP reported earlier this month that Mr Wellard and Ms Neale hope to make £500,000 from the art on the trailer which includes the larger work Fragile Silence, depicting commandos landing a sound system on a beach.
The couple said he began painting the mural in 1998 in exchange for Glastonbury tickets and added to it at later festivals.
Posted 48 months ago.
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BBC Video : Mobile 'art house' for sale
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Originally posted 47 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 44 months ago.
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Lyon and Turnbull : Lot 57
§ BANKSY (BRITISH, B. 1975)
FUNGLE JUNK
Spray paint on three plywood panels
SOLD WITH FULL VERMIN AUTHENTICATION
200cm x 230cm; 186cm x 76cm; 200cm x 170cm (78.75in x 90.5in; 73.25in x 30in; 78.75in x 67in)
Estimate £100,000-150,000
Unsold
The three panels offered for sale originally formed part of a larger mural painted by Banksy on the side of a trailer at the Lizard Festival in Cornwall in 1999. The artist sought permission from the owner of the trailer to paint the mural which was created as a piece of performance art in front of festival goers. The previous year at Glastonbury Banksy had painted the other side of the same trailer with another mural in collaboration with the graffiti artist Inkie. This mural is still attached to the original trailer whilst the three panels were removed at a later date when the trailer was altered to increase its size.
The trailer and both its murals feature in Steve Wright''s book, ''Banksy''s Bristol: Home Sweet Home: the Unofficial History of Banksy'', which outlines the origins of the UK urban art scene and its links to rave culture. Fungle Junk is an important piece of urban art and is a seminal work in Banksy''s development. iTshows the evolution of his style from his earlier free-hand technique towards the use of his iconic stencilling - both techniques are evident in this work. Similarly, certain iconographic elements present in the work later reappear developed into some of Banksy''s most iconic images - the monkey and Sid Vicious.
photo : Lyon and Turnbull
photo : Lyon and Turnbull
photo : Lyon and Turnbull
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Originally posted 44 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 44 months ago.
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BBC : Banksy's artworks fail to shift
A number of works by guerrilla artist Banksy have failed to sell at a modern art auction in London.
29 September 2008
Fungle Junk - a mural painted on the side of a van - was expected to make £150,000 but was withdrawn after a bid of half that price was made.
A spokesman for auctioneer Lyon and Turnbull said the artist's refusal to authenticate the works was to blame.
The modern art sale's "disappointing" outcome was also put down to the current economic climate.
Some 80% of the lots at the auction failed to sale, according to Ben Hanly, Lyon and Turnbull's contemporary art specialist.
'Extreme caution'
A self-portrait of Kate Moss, inscribed in blood by her former boyfriend Pete Doherty, eventually made less than its expected £40,000.
Works by other leading artists including Sam Taylor-Wood were not sold.
Enigmatic artist Banksy refused to authenticate his five works after setting up an organisation, Pest Control, to verify his art after a series of fakes were attributed to him.
He has also expressed a dislike for his street art being removed from its original setting.
But the auction house said it was sure the work was genuine and it decided to go ahead without official verification.
Of other main lots by Banksy, only Bomb Middle England sold for £13,000, while a number of prints were auctioned off for relatively small amounts.
On its website, Pest Control said that since its creation in January, 89 street pieces and 137 screen prints attributed to Banksy had turned out to be fake.
"Pest Control does not authenticate street pieces because Banksy prefers street work to remain in situ and building owners tend to become irate when their doors go missing because of a stencil," it said.
"He would encourage anyone wanting to purchase one of his images to do so with extreme caution, but does point out that many copies are superior in quality to the originals."
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Posted 44 months ago.
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ha..... I heard most of it didn't sell but haven't had time to see the details!
so glad. they used my book to claim some sort of kudos for the 'refuse store rat' piece. I asked them to remove the reference to it but they refused. I told them all about vermin, and removing street pieces but they didn't care.
My second email (to the guy named in the article - ben hanly) went unanswered. rude buggers.
I am SO SO SO happy.
Posted 44 months ago.
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looks like the market really did decide!!!!
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7638493.stm
Posted 44 months ago.
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The media froth at the headlines because his work didn't sell, as if to say - there you go, that's the last we'll see of him - then barely a week later all they can talk about is how brilliant the Pet Store is, while totally forgotting they all "outed" him as a middleclass schoolboy. If any one of us acted like that we'd be committed.
Originally posted 44 months ago.
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melfeasance edited this topic 44 months ago.
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