300 Banksy Artworks Go On Sale For Cheap—Only One Is Original, Worth $100K

Photo 205018392 © Giancarlo Liguori Pinto Da Silva | Dreamstime.com

Is a Banksy a Banksy if you can’t tell it’s a Banksy? A secretive group of an artist, curator, and a self-proclaimed Banksy buff has kicked off a project called The Missing Balloon, playfully poking holes in the art world’s obsession with authenticity and price tags.

The collective purchased an original Banksy Girl with Balloon print for a cool US$97,000. Then, they reprinted it 299 times, crafting “indistinguishable imitations” of the famous work.

Now, the team is selling all 300 prints—including the real Banksy—for a mere US$500 each. The million-dollar, or rather, $100,000, question is, can you tell the real one from the pack?

Image via The Missing Balloon

This experiment in artistic anarchy throws a wrench into the whole concept of value. By creating a sea of identical prints, with the whereabouts of the original by the elusive Bristol artist a mystery, all 300 become equally valuable (or valueless, depending on your perspective). The move is reminiscent of MSCHF’s Museum of Forgeries, which took a similar swipe at the art world by churning out copies of iconic Warhols and Picassos.

The Missing Balloon collective is betting on a truth that might sting some highfalutin’ collectors: that for some, art might just be about bragging rights and market value, not the piece itself. The trio hopes the experiment will expose this “pretentious hypocrisy,” as it calls it.

While 299 folks—plus one lucky soul—will take home a piece of familiar art, the collective will have something to pocket too. If all 300 screen prints sell out, the stunt’s creators will walk away with US$150,000 in total.

[via My Modern Met and News Week, images via various sources]