bonhams – Vandalog – A Street Art Blog

October 26, 2012October 29, 2012

Weekend link-o-rama

rothko — Rothko from beyond the grave by Freddy Sam

Not much to say this week except of course that I’m pumped for The Art of Comedy. Not too much news either, but some important stories…

Bonhams is holding an Urban Art auction in LA (Christ, 5 years after I first heard it and I still hate that term). This has been going on in England for years and of course Doyles New York just did something similar in NYC, but this is the first time Bonhams is doing an Urban Art auction in the USA. Notable lots include this absolutely classic Banksy, some very expensive kindling, an alright Shepard Fairey (a bit special since his originals don’t go to auction often), a Calvin Klein ad by KAWS, a nice Barry McGee panel from 1996, another nice Banksy, one of Chaz Bojórquez’ Señor Suerte stencils on canvas, and a large COST and REVS collaboration from the early 1990’s (yes, its legit, and yes, I would like to hang it in my dorm room if anyone feels like gifting me $20,000).
Caleb Neelon recently painted some work in Turkey.
Butterfly and Opera Gallery London have teamed up for a show of 33 artists including Sweet Toof, El Mac, Roa, Shepard Fairey, Ron English and many more. It opens next month.

Photo by Faith47 and via Wooster Collective

March 31, 2012

For me, this week was spent thinking way too much about the digital humanities at Re:Humanities. You may be asking what that is. I’m still not entirely sure, but I think it means using YouTube and Twitter to learn important stuff rather than to watch laughing-baby-related videos and talk about the last hamburger you ate. Still, interesting stuff. Kinda helps justify running a blog. Here’s what I was reading when I was trying not to waste my time on the web:

The Spanish Pez has made a visit to London.
No Longer Empty has put together a talk about Fashion Moda, one of the most consistently underrated spaces in the history of street art and graffiti.
Paul Weston, DB Brukeman and Erik Foss are putting on a sticker show in a Brooklyn bathroom. The show is an open call, so sticker artists should go here if they want to be involved.
I’m not a huge fan of KR anymore, but something about the similar work by Stephen Hiam completely grabs me.
ARYZ has designed the latest album cover for Aesop Rock.
Cheryl Dunn’s solo show in London is open.
Roid’s new print is very different from what you’d expect, but not bad at all.
The results are in from Bonhams’ latest urban art auction.

Photo by Overunder

February 25, 2009

Bonhams Auction Results

Just got home from tonight’s Bonhams Urban Art Auction. Results can be found here.

My immediate reactions can be found on the Vandalog Twitter.

In short, most work didn’t sell or was at the low end of the estimate (Banksy’s “Happy Copper” went for just above half the low estimate). The room was packed, but packed full of non-bidders interested in just seeing the results. The atmosphere was not depressing or so, but it was certainly a buyer’s market.

Surprise of the evening was the canvas by RESO which went for over £5000 (including buyer’s premium). I’ve never heard of him. To compare, two pretty good Supine pieces went unsold for much less. Anybody know about this RESO guy?

February 2, 2009

Thoughts on Bonhams February Auction

Spent some time today checking out the catolog for the February 24th urban art auction at Bonhams in London. A few people have noted the extremely high number of Banksy lots (22 of 78) and dismissed this auction, but I’ve found a few potential deals to be had. If you’ve got the money to spend and you can weed through the crap, people are looking to sell some really nice work. Here’s what I’ve found:

1. Banksy – Kate Moss (series of 6)
Estimate: £100,000 – 150,000

Banksy Kate Moss

There was a time when just one of these 6 could go for £100,000. Perhaps Banksy’s most sought after print. The winner of this auction will be a very lucky man/woman in a decade. Continue reading “Thoughts on Bonhams February Auction”