Two artists in New York cashed in on the hype surrounding street artist Banksy by holding a sale of fake versions of the artist’s prints in Central Park on Monday.
As part of his residency on the streets of New York, Banksy set up a stall in Central Park on October 13th and tried to sell his prints for $60 each. Only eight were purchased. Eight days later, Dave Cicirelli and Lance Pilgram erected their stand in the exact same spot and sold all 40 of their $60 fakes, according to Animal New York.
“We wouldn’t have sold any, if not for the media hype around Banksy,” Cicirelli told Animal. “That was kind of the point—we wanted to complete his statement about the nature of hype and the value of art.”
Each of the prints came with a “Certificate of Inauthenticity” to make it clear that they weren’t by Banksy, but the buyers didn’t seem to care. Everything, including the price sign, was sold.
Check out Banksy’s original prints from his instagram below and see more of his art around New York on his site.
[ANIMAL]