Banksy wall mural on the block, house thrown in for free
Last Updated: Sunday, February 11, 2007 | 4:06 PM ET
CBC Arts
An art gallery in Kingsbridge, Devon in the U.K. is offering a unique two-for-one deal, buy a piece of wall art by guerilla artist Banksy and get the house that goes with it.
The owners of a house in Bristol have enlisted the help of an art gallery to sell a Banksy mural painted on the outside wall of their home. The proviso is that their house comes with the mural.
"The people who own the house have decided to sell it but they've become frustrated as they've come close to exchanging contracts on several occasions only to find the prospective owners want to get rid of the mural," Sarah Anslow of the Red Propeller art gallery told BBC News.
'The owners consider it a work of art and want it kept as it is'—Sarah Anslow, co-owner Red Propeller art gallery
Anslow says the mural was "free-painted" and is about four years old. Banksy, an anonymous artist from Bristol, is known for his stenciled art works.
"The owners consider it a work of art and want it kept as it is. They came to us to help sell it as a mural with a house attached."
Anslow says the owners are hoping to sell the 7.6-by-1.8 metre fresco for £200,000 (about $450,000), the approximate cost of the house.
House rented out to students
The couple who own the home have never lived in it, preferring to rent it out to students.
The mural appeared about three years ago but the students living there didn't inform the owners. The owners also didn't know that Banksy was the person behind the mural until it appeared in his 2005 book, Wall and Peace.
"I believe the students knew Banksy and were worried about the owners' reaction," David Anslow, co-owner of the gallery, told the Independent newspaper.
Anslow says local artists revere the mural and will "fight tooth and nail" to preserve it.
"There is so much respect for his work around here."
The gallery has contracted a local realtor to help it with the sale.
Banksy has made a name for himself through his tongue-in-cheek protest art. His work is also becoming highly prized. An acrylic and spray paint work, Bombing Middle England, sold for nearly $240,000 on Wednesday in London.
The bid marked a record price paid for a work by the graffiti artist.
Banksy has also engaged in pranks such as leaving 500 doctored copies of Paris Hilton's album in U.K. record stores and erecting a life-size figure of a Guantanamo Bay detainee at Disneyland in California.
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