A Brussels-based art exhibition is betting on the famous street artist Banksy, whose works are being sold at exorbitant prices in auctions, to reopen its doors in the midst of the epidemic, as it organizes an exhibition that will open on Thursday that includes 16 of his paintings. Performed in silk-screen printing.
"It´s Covid ... we had to hit hard. So we decided to start with Banksy, the" most famous "street artist," the owner of this new venue, Diodato Salavia, who runs galleries in his country and in Switzerland, told AFP.
The works shown will only be available to small groups of people in half-hour periods. It has been fully booked, and given the long waiting list, the organizers are considering extending the exhibition beyond the scheduled close of May 22.
The prices of these works range between 50,000 and 300,000 euros. Among the most prominent is a three-dimensional one showing the famous painting "Flower Throw", which represents a masked protestor throwing a bouquet of flowers.
"Now that museums have started buying and displaying Banksy´s work, all collectors want to buy them," said Diodato Salavia, who began "unfortunately too late" in 2016, acquiring works of the mysterious artist whose prices have risen dramatically over the past two years.
On Tuesday, a painting by Banksy honoring the treatment staff was sold during an auction in London for 16.75 million pounds ($ 23 million), a record amount for the artist´s work, the proceeds of which will be returned to the British Health Authority.
The black and white painting, entitled "Game Changer" (Change the Equation), depicts a young boy playing with a doll in the form of a nurse chewing a muzzle after he threw "Batman" and "Superman" into the garbage.
