BANKSY (Bristol, England, 1975). Souvenir Wall... Lot 23

BANKSY (Bristol, England, 1975). Souvenir Wall Section, Palestine. Piece of concrete painted with graffiti and miniature figure in mixed media. Attached original payment receipt issued by "Walled Off Hotel". Measurements: 14.5 x 12.5 x 8 cm. Sculpture consisting of a piece of the Gaza wall accompanied by a small miniature figure of a graffiti artist. In March 2017, the "Walled Off" hotel was inaugurated in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. With a slogan announcing it as the hotel with "the worst view in the world", it is located in front of the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank. All of its rooms are decorated by Banksy, and its stated aim is both to attract tourists to the city and to expose works by Palestinian artists to an international and Israeli audience. In a small museum inside the hotel is a statue of Lord Balfour signing his famous declaration. Banksy, the British artist whose identity is still unknown, is considered one of the leading exponents of contemporary street art. According to a study by Queen Mary University of London published in March 2016, Robin Gunningham, a resident of Bristol, is the artist behind the Banksy pseudonym. His works address universal themes such as politics, culture and ethics, mostly from a satirical and ironic point of view, combining graffiti writing with the use of stencil stencils. This technique is similar to that used by Blek le Rat, who began working with stencils in 1981 in Paris. In fact, Banksy acknowledged Blek's influence by stating that "every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I realise that Blek le Rat did it better, only twenty years earlier".