8 - Banksy (British Street Artist, born 1974)

Banksy (British Street Artist, born 1974) “Gangsta Rat” (Liverpool Biennial 2004) Stencil and Spray paint on Plywood (60 by 60 cm bespoke box) Box by John Jones, London. Museum-standard framing, behind low-reflective Perspex and behind glass. 49.8 x 49.8 cm. (19.60 by 19.60 inch.) CONDITION Excellent, original condition The artwork is framed and ready for exhibition (Please refer to department for a Condition Report) PROVENANCE – This work formed part of Banksy stencils that coincided at the start of Liverpool Biennial 2004. Most of these works have been removed or vandalized since but there are a couple left. The current owner has owned this spray paint on plywood of Banksy since it was salvaged from a derelict building located on Seel Street at Liverpool in 2004. NOTE – Banksy’s Gangsta Rat is shown sitting down next to a large, portable “boom-box” stereo. He is wearing a working-class New York City uniform of a heavy chain medallion necklace and a NY Mets baseball cap. His expression is one of surprise, as if he is equally as startled by the viewer’s expression as we are of his own. The market is relatively small for street pieces, as not many have survived, even though they are by far the most important. – Banksy first produced a screen print of this image in 2004 in a red colorway with a limited edition of 350 signed and unsigned pieces, and it was re-released in 2005 in an edition of 500. Banksy also created rare colorways of Gangsta Rat (Pink) in an edition of 64 and Gangsta Rat (Green) in an edition of 20 in 2004, and released a special VIP collector set at Dismaland in 2015. Banksy has reproduced Gangsta Rat as graffiti art in the streets and on canvas, and urban art lovers all over the world have imprinted the image on coffee mugs, t-shirts, posters, and their bodies. – Rats are iconic in Banksy street art prints because they are emblematic of street art itself. Banksy rats reference the so-called father of stencil graffiti, -Blek Le Rat-. This French stencil artist, who made his name in the 1980s, was similarly fond of rats as subjects because of their massive, if negatively perceived, impact on populations. Rats are one of Banksy’s most prolific subjects, and Gangsta Rat is a truly iconic Banksy artwork. EXHIBITIONS – This piece featured in the ‘London, New York, Bristol’ exhibition at Mount Street Galleries (Mayfair, London) in 2008, alongside works by Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol. PUBLICATIONS – Richard Hessink: “Catalogue Raisonné of Banksy’s Street Art”, (2nd edition, part 1, 2024), No. 856.