| A lot of art critics and government officials would | | | | the owner of the wall had estimated that to remove |
| argue that so called street art is nothing more than | | | | the piece it would cost an extra £5,000, which was |
| just glorified graffiti at best and acts of vandalism at | | | | to be paid by the buyer. Banksy's work is also |
| worst. It is not uncommon for even the most | | | | popular with a number of celebrities, for example at a |
| famous pieces of street art to be painted over by | | | | show he staged in Los Angeles Angelina Jolie was |
| council contractors or the owners of the buildings on | | | | reported to have spent £200,000 on some of his |
| which they were painted. Even so this street art has | | | | work. Christina Aguilera also bought three works at |
| risen in popularity and the public consciousness greatly | | | | Banksy's Soho gallery in April 2006 for £25,000. |
| in recent years and this is greatly, although not solely, | | | | More recently a piece of Banksy's work that Kate |
| due to the elusive guerrilla artist known as Banksy. | | | | Moss has bought for £80,000 was stolen from her |
| I'm sure you will have seen copies of his work | | | | home. |
| printed countless times on canvases and t shirts and | | | | It seems that no matter what the critics and |
| maybe if you have been lucky you will have seen | | | | government think of street art it is for the moment |
| some of his original work while it survived. Even | | | | big business for Banksy, his fellow street artists and |
| though Banksy himself doesn't use copies of his work | | | | the people who sell it for them although even more |
| for commercial purposes (he even gives away free | | | | than this Banksys work and his liberal view on |
| copies of his prints in the "shop" section of his | | | | copyright has allowed hundreds of small businesses to |
| website) original pieces are being sold for vast sums | | | | develop and begin to flourish selling everything from |
| of money. For example online bidding for a wall that | | | | Banksy prints to Banksy bags to Banksy t-shirts and |
| Banksy had painted on in January 2008 closed with a | | | | these I think are the real winners. |
| final price of £208,100, after 69 bids. Even though | | | | |