A Banksy ‘Gangsta Rat’ artwork on a street bollard could fetch $50k.
An auction features the mysterious artist’s work he sprayed on the street furniture in hometown of Bristol in 2009.
The black aerosol stencil painting shows a rat with a boombox, with the animal representing an uprising of the masses against capitalistic society.
The piece will feature in a sale by Los Angeles-based Julien’s Auctions, along with other of Banksy’s works.
A ‘Placard Rat’ drawn on a newsagents board in Grays Inn Road, London, in early 2004, is estimated to fetch $40k – $50k.
While a rat wearing a bowler hat, painted by Banksy on a steel door in Berlin in 2004, has been estimated $30k – $50k.
Banksy’s work is joined by other iconic artists including Shepard Fairey, known for his Barack Obama Hope poster, and Invader, whose mosaic artworks have appeared in cities around the world.
David Goodman, CEO of Julien’s Auctions, says: “Julien’s has put together an unrivalled collection of the most fearless and stirring underground works of rebellion from the streets’ most legendary guerrilla art warriors.
“From Banksy’s signature Rats to Invader’s beloved Aliens to Shephard Fairey’s Hand of Doom, their defining works represent the street art movement’s most powerful and provocative statements of all time.”
The Street Art Invasion auction will take place on 11 July.
