Festival, 2006
Editions: 150 signed, 500 unsigned (100 printed)
Festival, also known as Destroy Capitalism, depicts a group of people at a music festival queuing up to buy t-shirts. They are clearly portrayed as punks, goths and hippies attending some sort of music festival with clothes, haircuts and attitudes representative of those subcultures. They represent what society might consider as anti-capitalists or “outsiders.” However, they queue up to buy a $30 t-shirt, just like the rest of society – illustrating the power that capitalism holds even for its most fervent opponents.
Festival (Brown AP), 2006
Edition: 33 signed AP
Edition: 33 signed AP
Festival can also be read as an ironic comment on how independent and anti-globalization events, like alternative music festivals, for example, have now become hypocritical versions of themselves – contradicting the very thing their attendees cry out against. The irony of the work unintentionally reached its climax in 2013, however, when Walmart – the American multinational retail corporation which is the very embodiment of capitalism – sold a series of Festival at a markup through their online marketplace (without asking Banksy for permission to use the imagery, to boot).
RELEASE HISTORY
Festival is one of six prints belonging to the Barely Legal Print Set, which also includes Grannies, Trolleys, Morons, Applause, and Sale Ends. Festival was originally released at Barely Legal as an edition of 100 unsigned prints, printed by Modern Multiples, that sold for $500 a piece.
The remaining 400 prints were due to be released by Pictures on Walls, but this edition never saw the light of day. As a consequence, Festival is numbered /500.
Festival original, exhibited at Barely Legal, Los Angeles, 2006
DESCRIPTION
Festival, Destroy Capitalism
Year: 2006
Medium: Screen-print in colors on Arches wove paper
Size: 56×76 cm (22×30 inches)
Publisher: Modern Multiples and Pictures on Walls
Editions
LA Edition: 100 unsigned, 6 signed Printer’s Proofs (PP)
Signed Edition: 150 signed
Artist’s Proof Editions
Brown AP: 33 signed AP
Color AP: 17 signed AP in different color combinations
AUCTION RESULTS
Updated as of 30 June 2022
1. Festival (unsigned)
Festival (unsigned) sold twice at auction in 2022 as of 30 June 2022.
It sold at Sotheby’s online on 26 April 2022 for GBP 32,760 (USD 41,278) and at Phillips London on 15 June 2022 for GBP 27,720 (USD 30,996).
Festival (unsigned) sold once in 2021 at Tate Ward Auctions on 24 March 2021 for GBP 45,000 (USD 62,550). It sold at Forum Auctions on 24 March 2020, for GBP 16,750. It had not appeared at auction since 2016.
Festival (unsigned), 2006
Numbered 43/500 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower left
Phillips London, 15 June 2022
GBP 27,720 / USD 30,996
Festival (LA Edition), 2006
Numbered 62/500 in pencil, lower right
Sotheby’s online, 26 April 2022
GBP 32,760 / USD 41,278
Numbered 62/500 in pencil, lower right
Sotheby’s online, 26 April 2022
GBP 32,760 / USD 41,278
Festival (unsigned), 2006
Numbered in pencil XXX/500
Tate Ward Auctions, 24 March 2021
GBP 45,000 / USD 62,550
2. Festival (signed)
Festival (color AP), one of 17 artist’s proofs in a unique color combination, sold at Sotheby’s online on 18 March 2021 for GBP 126,000 (USD 175,140).
Festival (signed PP) sold at Phillips London on 23 January 2020, for GBP 60,000.
Festival (Brown AP) sold at Tate Ward Auctions on 24 June 2020, for GBP 47,500.
Festival (Color AP), 2006
Signed and inscribed AP9 in pencil, lower left
One of 17 artist’s proofs in a unique color combination
Sotheby’s online, 18 March 2021
GBP 126,000 / USD 175,140
Festival (Brown AP), 2006
Signed and Numbered from an edition of 33 APs
Tate Ward Auctions, 24 June 2020
GBP 47,500
